Double Vision
by tsarina-lizzie
Summary: AU: Tyler Black and Seth Rollins are twins that were separated at birth but live in the same state. What will happen when they meet? (Chapters alternate for each twin)
1. Seth Rollins

"What can I get you tonight?" Seth asked as he saw a young guy sit down on the bar stool in front of him.

Behind the customer Seth could see the new employee the club had hired a month ago on stage, Dolph Ziggler, showing off his abs. It confused Seth - Wasn't 10 the time that Roman got on stage?

"Vodka on the rocks." The guy ordered.

Seth got the man his drink, handing it to him. He turned around to put the bottle of vodka back when he thought he heard someone calling his name. Turning around, the bottle still in his hand, Seth saw Dolph teasing everyone by pulling his trunks down a little bit, showing off his backside.

Seth's eyes widened, dropping the bottle of vodka. Dolph and everyone else in the club looked at Seth, bringing attention to him, muttering a cuss word under his breath. He nervously chuckled and gave a little wave, "It's fine, just dropped a bottle, no big deal."

As he left the bar area and went into the back to get a few things to clean up the mess, everyone went back to paying attention to Dolph.

Hearing someone talking in the cleaning closet as he got closer. Who would be in the closet? The cleaning guy called out sick. Seth opened the door and was surprised.

"Your my bitch, you know that, right?" Roman said in a husky voice.

Roman heard someone gasp so he looked up to see none other than Seth standing at the door, looking quite surprised by the scene in front of him.

_Fuck_, Roman thought.

Roman pushed one of his co-workers off his dick, pulling his pants up and buttoning them. The co-worker stood up, noticing the awkward tension in the air. He started to point to the door.

"I think I'm going to just go..." The co-worker said trying to hide his face that was clearly red with embarrassment.

"That would be a good idea," Seth agreed with a nod.

Seth moved out of the way so the co-worker could get out of the room, shutting the door behind him to leave Seth and Roman alone. They waited a few minutes to speak to each other, Seth scratching his head and looking at the shelf next to Roman that had cleaning supplies on it.

"Unbelievable!" Seth said under his breath. He couldn't believe this was happening again.

"You weren't supposed to see that," Roman starts, looking to the ground as he rested his body on the wall. He put his hands in his pockets.

"Please! Your glad that I saw." Seth yelled. "Was it like that time when I wasn't supposed to see you with that other co-worker in your apartment after you invited me over?"

"Why does it bother you so much?" Roman argued, tipping his head to the side showing he was annoyed.

"Because I'd like to know that you aren't going around putting your cock in some random person's mouth before I stick it in mine!" Seth fought.

"Jealous you have competition?" Roman asked, giving a smirk and winking. Seth couldn't believe what Roman was doing right now - Was he seriously enjoying this fight right now? "We're not in a relationship, Seth, I can do whatever the fuck I want. I'm an adult and if I feel like getting a blowjob by someone else, then I'll do it."

"You'd think we'd be more by now, Roman." Seth sighs, rubbing his eyes. Roman always said that in arguments to remind Seth they weren't a couple, knowing that Seth wanted a relationship.

"All we are is fuck buddies and we'll always stay that way! Nothing more, nothing less." Roman exclaims.

Seth chuckles. Sometimes Roman just made him so angry! Shaking his head, "Maybe then I shouldn't care so much - You know what? I know what I'll do! How would you feel if I went out there and asked Ziggler to come to the bathroom with me and we fucked in there?"

Roman shrugged his shoulders, "I bet he'd be good. Maybe I would watch, but I know you wouldn't do that - you're such a prude."

Roman always thought he knew Seth and that was true, that's what Seth hated so much about Roman sometimes - He knew that Seth would never sleep around.

Leaning against the wall, Roman waited for Seth to respond. He was grinning.

"Why wouldn't I do that? If you don't care about me, why should I care about you so much?" Seth asked.

_I never said I didn't care about you_, Roman thought.

"Because that's not you." Roman said, "It's simple as that - You would feel guilty afterwards."

Seth lowered his head, knowing that was true - He'd feel guilty because no matter how many times Roman said it, he would still hope for a relationship. He looked back up to Roman.

"You're a jackass." Seth muttered.

Roman got off the wall, looking Seth in the eyes. "What are you going to do about it?"

Roman was the only one grinning still, Seth had looked peeved. They stood facing each other for a few minutes before Seth grabbed Roman's arms and pushed him up against the wall, kissing him roughly.

Roman pulled away, switching where the two were standing pushing Seth against the wall. Their lips parted and Roman looked at Seth and gave him a genuine smile. No matter what, relationship or no relationship, Roman needed Seth to know that he meant something to him. He placed a light feathery kiss to his lips before taking them away again.

"How about I come over later?" Roman inquired.

Seth wanted it right now but knew he couldn't leave the bar unattended for too long. "Okay." Seth smiled back and placed a quick kiss to Roman's lips before moving from under him.

Roman turned around smiling.

"Why'd you come to the closet in the first place, anyway?" Roman asked with a chuckle as he saw Seth grab supplies off the wall.

"I dropped something at the bar."

"You're so clumsy. I guess you better get back out there before you get fired. It would be a pity to never see that beautiful face again while I strip."

Heat rose to Seth's cheeks. Grabbing the dustpan, he laughed. He stood up and grabbed the broom, "Don't make jokes like that."

"It's true, though."

Grabbing a towel, Roman opened the door for Seth. Seth gave him a smile, started to walk out of the room when Roman called him back.

"What?"

"You're forgetting something."

Seth opened his mouth to speak when Roman kissed him on the cheek, surprising him. Then Roman walked away, going towards the stage and Seth walked to the bar area.

Cleaning up the mess, music started to play and they said Roman's name. Looking up to see Roman come onto the stage, Seth couldn't help but smile a little.

"Rollins! Get back to work, I'm not paying you by the hour to stare at the strippers!" His boss yelled, walking by the bar and pointing at him.

Seth looked down, then back up and nodded his head. He could feel his cheeks burning.

"Yes, sir, got it." Seth muttered.

Seth went back to cleaning up the mess, embarrassed that his boss caught him staring at Roman.

* * *

Let me know how you guys like the first chapter! Hopefully I will have up a chapter about Tyler soon. As always, let me know if you find any mistakes and I will try to fix them ASAP! Thanks for reading. - Lizzie


	2. Tyler Black

"It's fucking hot out today." Tyler mutters. He wipes some of the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

Phil laughs. They were walking a street in downtown Wilmington together on their lunch break. Today, of course, had to be the hottest day of the year and, of course, they had to be wearing suits.

"Dude, we'll be in the air conditioner soon." Phil replies with a teasing smile, "It's not even that hot out."

They turned the corner, walking by a hair salon. Tyler's eyes widened. They were in the middle of a heat wave and Phil didn't think it was hot out? Tyler was convinced Phil was crazy.

"That being said by the guy from Chicago." Tyler says.

"You wouldn't know because you've never been to Chicago."

They walk into the pizza place, stepping into the two person line. Music was playing although they could barely hear it over the people talking in the restaurant.

"Give me one good reason why I should go to Chicago? Maybe I'll consider it." Tyler says, getting out his wallet and pulling out a $20 dollar bill. He put his wallet back in his pocket.

Phil got out of the line to go over to the soda company fridge to get him and Tyler their drinks. He returned a minute later, handed Tyler his Coke, then hit him on his chest lightly.

"Chicago just won the Stanley-fucking-Cup, that's a pretty big reason." Phil reasoned, "Or... You know, the reason that I'm from there." He gave a toothy grin that made Tyler smile immediately.

As Tyler and him walked up to the cashier, Tyler laughed. The two of them ordered pizza and Tyler paid for everything. They waited for their food to get ready at the counter.

"I've got a feeling that you'd beg me to buy you a ticket to come with me to Chicago if I ever went." Tyler joked.

_That's exactly right_, Phil thought.

Before Phil could reply, the guy handed Tyler his tray for the pizza and handed him some napkins too. Tyler thanked him and left, looking for a booth that him and Phil could sit in. Following behind him, Phil couldn't help to look down and notice Tyler had a nice backside.

They sat at a booth close to the door, not minding the sun hitting their table. Tyler gave Phil his plate of pizza as Phil opened his Pepsi.

"Seriously Tyler, maybe you should go on a vacation for a little while..." Phil suggested, taking a sip of his drink.

Opening his soda, Tyler gasped playfully. "Are you trying to get me to leave work so you can kiss our boss's ass to get the promotion or do you really want a ticket to Chicago?"

"You should know by now that I'm no ass kisser." Phil said, "I'm only suggesting it because you've worked non-stop for the last year. Maybe you should take a vacation, get laid..."

"I'm fine..." Tyler trailed off, grabbing the jar of parmesan cheese off the table and started to shake some on his pizza. He tried to hand Phil the jar, but he shook his head no, so he put it back next to the napkin holder. He picked his pizza up and started to eat it.

"Your hand can't be your girlfriend forever, Tyler." Phil whispers.

Swallowing the pizza quickly, Tyler coughed, putting the pizza back on the plate and grabbed his soda, gulping some of it down. He put the bottle down, closing the lid and took a deep breath.

"I said it's fine, Phil."

"When's the last time you got laid, 2011 or 2012? It's 2013 now, Ty." Phil asked, raising his eyebrows in curiosity.

Tyler sighed loudly, he was tired of Phil talking about this. Some things he wanted to keep to himself and this was one of them.

Getting angry about it, Tyler leaned in closer to Phil, "How many women have you fucked since the breakup with - "

"That's different." Phil cut him off extending his finger to quiet Tyler, "I had my reasons and she understood them. At least I'm looking for a relationship, are you?"

Tyler looked down. Phil never said why they broke up, just that they broke up and it was for the best, though they stayed friends.

"Exactly, too long." Phil said, shrugging, "Look, the boss just promoted Brie Bella and she has the office next to yours. She was in the meeting I had earlier and afterwards she was talking to someone about how she's single now. Ask her out! I even heard she's got a twin, so maybe their into some freaky things..."

"Ew, Phil." Tyler spewed giving Phil a look of disgust.

"What if we break-up and then have to work together on a project?" Tyler continued.

Phil sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Tyler could be so difficult sometimes. "You know what? Fuck it, Black. Seriously, worry about that shit when the time comes, not now."

"I guess your right." Tyler really did want a relationship. It really had been a long time since his last one. He'd been on dates, but they never felt right to him.

Leaning back in the booth, Phil was surprised Tyler agreed with him. He pointed to himself, "Really? Of course I'm right, I'm always right." He replies and Tyler laughs. He looks at his watch and sits up. "Now hurry up, we've got ten minutes left in our lunch break and I want to look in the music store down the street."

* * *

Later that day, Tyler had been in his office looking over files that had to be handed to his boss before he left work that night. He wasn't able to pay attention to work, his mind kept drifting off to what Phil said to him during their lunch break about Brie. Maybe he should ask her out, she had always been nice to him whenever they spoke to each other, but plenty of people are nice. There was a war in his mind.

Throwing his pen on the desk frustrated, Tyler sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He closed his eyes for a few minutes and rested his back into the chair, almost falling asleep instantly.

A knock on his office door brought him back. The door was open and he was thankful it wasn't his boss at the door, he didn't want to get into trouble by sleeping on the job. Instead, it was Brie, whose hair was curled, she was wearing a tight red dress and red lipstick. She stood at the doorway, waving at him, she smiled at him and let out a nervous chuckle.

"Sorry if I woke you up from a nap, uh... Phil told me to give you this file, said it was private and I couldn't look at it." Brie said, coming into his office and placing it on his desk.

Tyler waved it off, "Your alright, Brie... I just haven't been sleeping well at home." Tyler lied, "Thank you anyway."

"No problem." Brie replied, "And maybe you should go searching for a new mattress if your having trouble with the one you have now, you don't want to be tired on the job."

"Thanks for the tip, maybe I will." Tyler agreed.

Brie nodded her head and flashed him a quick smile. She started to walk off, Tyler mentally yelled at himself for not asking her out. He watched as she grabbed the door and was about to close so he could be alone when he took a deep breath. _Here goes nothing!_

"Uh... Brie?"

She turned around, hand still on the doorknob. "Yeah?"

Grabbing the folder, Tyler looked up and smiled at Brie. "Thanks for the folder again."

"Again, no problem, Tyler." Brie said, looking down at the ground. She stood there for a minute before looking back up, "Is there something else you want? I've got a feeling that there's something else."

Tyler nodded his head. It's been a long time since he last asked someone out and this was so nerve-racking for him.

"Actually, yes." Tyler said, "I was wondering if you'd like to see a movie with me this Saturday?"

"As a date?" Brie wondered, her face tilted to the side. Tyler nodded his head. "What movie?"

"Pacific Rim?" Tyler guessed, "Sorry, I don't know that many movies that are out right now. I know this movie has been getting great reviews, so..."

Brie looked like she was considering it, nodding her head as the silence was slowly making Tyler go insane. He was hoping she said yes.

"That sounds nice - Pick me up at seven thirty and instead of Pacific Rim, we should go see White House Down." Brie said, "I'll give you directions to my house later."

Tyler smiled as Brie winked, turned around and left, leaving the door open.

Looking out his doorway still, Tyler could see Phil walking by his office. He gave Tyler a thumbs up, assuming that it went well with Brie. Looking down, Tyler chuckled and opened the folder that was so "private" no one but Tyler could look inside.

All that was in the folder was a green post-it not that said, "_Now was that so hard? Don't screw it up!_"

Tyler shook his head - Why was Phil so obsessed with trying to get Tyler to go out with someone?

* * *

Hope everyone is liking the series so far! Please share your opinions, I'd love to hear them. As always, let me know if I've made a mistake and I will change it ASAP! Thank you for reading.


	3. Can We Talk?

"Our boss caught me staring at you earlier." Seth spoke, grabbing two plates out from his cabinet. He set the plates down on the counter, closing the cabinet doors.

Roman got the plates and walked them into the living room of Seth's adjacent apartment. He placed the plates on the coffee table, smiled to himself, then walked back into the kitchen. Roman stood next to Seth, his arm going around Seth's hips while Seth was grabbing cups from the cabinet next to the sink.

"What he say?" Roman asked. He got closer to Seth, whispering in his ear, "Did you like what you saw?"

Seth started to blush as Roman moved and grabbed the bag of steaming hot Chinese food on the counter, going back into the living room, sitting down on the couch.

Seth walked into the living room a minute later, sitting down on the couch next to Roman. He put the cups on the table, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on, the sports caster talking about the Pittsburgh Pirates winning against the Cincinnati Reds again this year.

Roman snatched the remote out of Seth's hand, turning the TV off, throwing it on the coffee table. The noise of the remote hitting the coffee table was the only sound in the room.

"Why'd you do that?" Seth asked, "I wanted to know who won the game earlier!"

"Pirates won three to two, happy now?" Roman said, getting out the bowls of food. "I just want us to be able to talk."

Roman sighed. He was trying to show Seth that he cared about him.

"_Roman Reigns wants to talk_?" Seth scoffed, "are you doing this so I'll fuck you later?"

Roman shook his head as he handed Seth the large bowl of pepper steak with onions. Seth took it, wondering how Roman could remember that this was his favorite Chinese meal. Roman then put a plastic fork on his plate. Seth opened the bowl, putting the food on the plate and looked at Roman, who already had his sweet and sour chicken out of the bowl and onto the plate, mixed with lo mein noodles.

"Oh shit, I forgot the drinks!" Roman exclaims.

Roman went into the bag, grabbing two cans of Coke out of the bag, handing one can to Seth.

"How much was it?" Seth asks. "I'll pay you my half."

"About twenty-four eighty five, I had twenty five on me." Roman replied, waving it off. He watched Seth open the can of soda, then pour it into the cup. Roman pointed at the cup. "No need to pay me back - Why are you drinking soda that way? It's kind fancy for just having Chinese food for dinner, you can just drink it in a can."

Seth sighs, "Why does it matter?"

"Why are you in such a pissy mood, Seth? I'm trying to talk to you, eat dinner with you at a late hour of the night..." Roman fought.

Seth looked down to the floor, "Because I'm tired, Roman." Seth said before standing up. He got in front of Roman, unbuttoned his jeans, pulled the jeans and boxers down to his ankles, then stood tall. Roman was confused - Why was Seth standing in front of him half naked when they were trying to eat dinner?

"What are you doing? We're trying to eat dinner, sit down." Roman said.

Seth shrugged his shoulders, "We both know you're here for one thing, Rome." Seth muttered, his voice light, "I'll let you blow me, then you can leave so we can just get this pretending to have a nice dinner over with."

_This isn't me trying to pretend anything_, Roman wanted to say not able to look at the sight in front of him.

Roman sighed, nodding his head. He moved forward and pulled Seth's boxers up, then pulled his jeans up, buttoning them for Seth.

"Take care of the zipper and sit down, Seth. Eat your dinner. I'm not going to have sex with you tonight." Roman demanded.

Seth took care of his zipper and sat down, feeling a bit embarrassed about Roman turning him down - Shocked, even. He started to eat his meal.

The two ate their meals in silence. Seth's cheeks were red, afraid that Roman was angry at him, but he wasn't.

"So, you never told me, what did the boss say to you earlier?" Roman asked, sipping on his soda. He was trying to change the subject, he couldn't handle the awkward silence.

Seth laughs a little, "Vince told me not to stare at you, that he wasn't paying me to look at the strippers."

Roman smiled, "So you liked the performance I'm guessing?"

"Fuck yes." Seth says, "... made me want you even more."

Roman started to blush as he looked at Seth, who was eating the rest of his dinner.

"I've got an idea." Roman announced.

Seth looked at him, eyebrows raised. He was worried. "What?"

"We both have the night off, so let's go see a movie Saturday."

Seth was surprised by this idea - Roman was either drunk or Seth was dreaming. Pinching himself, Seth knew it was reality and Roman didn't smell of any alcohol. Shit, this was real. Was this a date? He couldn't mention his suspicion, Roman would get scared by that commitment.

"What movie?" Seth wondered with a smile forming.

"Maybe White House Down? I know you like Channing Tatum."

Seth thought about it for a few seconds. He shrugged his shoulders, "Okay, I'm in."

"Then, maybe when we come back to your place, you can be the one who strips for me." Roman said, winking at Seth.

* * *

Hope everyone is liking it so far! Let me know what you're thinking. Please tell me if I made any mistakes and I will fix them ASAP!


	4. Seth and Tyler

For a Saturday night at the movie theatre, it was surprisingly not as busy as they thought. Once Tyler and Brie arrived at the theatre normally dressed, Tyler bought the tickets and went inside to buy snacks. Most of the people inside were teenagers.

Standing in line, Tyler thought about something and sighed.

"You know, I'm pretty sure I was supposed to take you to dinner before since the movie might end late, so I apologize." Tyler says.

Brie looks at him and laughs, shrugging her shoulders. "It's alright, I only thought we'd go to the movie tonight."

"Really?"

Tyler was shocked, but relieved. He was sure that she'd react differently than that, maybe he was more upset about this than she was.

Brie nods her head, looking up to the small TV screen that was showing a music video. They could hear the music a little. "Yes, it's fine."

"We could just go eat at McDonald's next to the theatre after the movie, if that's okay." Tyler suggested.

Brie turned to face him, put her hands on his cheeks and smiled, "Will this stop bugging you? Tyler Black, you need to stop - I said it was fine and I mean it. Okay?" Tyler nods his head a little, "Okay, then. Good."

Brie takes her hands off his cheeks, putting her hands in her shorts pockets as she looks down to the ground, then towards the arcade.

Tyler clears his throat. "Excuse me for a minute, I've got to use the bathroom."

He left Brie in the line, walking to the bathroom behind the posters for the movies that were coming out soon.

Walking into the bathroom, Tyler only saw a guy with his hair in a ponytail standing in front of one of the stalls. He seemed annoyed, he knocked on the stall.

"Come on Seth, the movie's going to start in fifteen minutes and we've yet to buy the snacks!" He exclaimed.

When the guy felt like he was being stared at, he looked at Tyler standing by the sink. He gave Tyler a weird look, did he know him from somewhere? He blinked a few times, "Can I help you?"

"No." Tyler says in a low voice as he turns around, lowering his head.

Tyler turned the faucet on as he saw in the mirror the guy go look back at the stall. He washed his hands real quick, afraid of the guy in front of the stall. He could see the guy lean against the wall, cross his arms over his chest, sigh, then let his head rest against the wall.

Tyler left the bathroom without drying his hands, walking back to line where he left Brie. He didn't see her. Then he turned around and saw her sitting alone on the bench under a big movie poster, holding a bowl of popcorn, two sodas next to her.

Walking up to her, Tyler smiled. "Actually, I like to buy nachos when seeing movies."

Her face fell. "Really? I didn't know that - "

"No, I'm just messing with you." Tyler waved it off, chuckling.

Brie stood up with a little grin on her face, Tyler took the popcorn from her so she could grab the sodas.

Together they walked up to a man who sat in the middle of the hallway, handed him their tickets. He punched holes into them, handed them back and pointed to the right.

"Third theatre on the left side. Enjoy the show." The man said.

"Thanks." Brie said.

They walked to the theatre, admiring photos of older actors on the wall. Both of them went inside and sat in the very back, far from the other people in the theatre, which weren't that many. Tyler handed Brie the popcorn, Brie handed him his soda.

"When I told Nikki that I was going on a date with you, she told me to make sure I ask you if you had a twin brother that she could date." Brie confessed, looking him in the eyes giving him a sheepish grin.

"Really? Well, I don't have a twin, or any siblings, sorry." Tyler replied with a little smile.

The lights started to go down, playing trailers for other movies.

Brie shook her head, "It's fine, that would've been too creepy anyway."

"That's true." Tyler agreed, picking up a handful of popcorn and putting it in his mouth.

They looked to the screen, which was playing a trailer for The Mortal Instruments. After a few more trailers, the lights got dimmer and the theatre started to get a little cold.

The beginning credits began as two people entered the theatre, popcorn in one person's hand, sodas in the other person's hands. They walked by Brie and Tyler, laughing loudly. One of the guys had two different hair colors.

"Wow, you don't always see hair like that." Brie whispers.

Tyler agreed with a shake of his head while running a hand through his buzz cut.

* * *

Driving back to Seth's place, Roman stopped at a red light. He took a quick glance at Seth, who was paying more attention to his phone than to notice what Roman was doing. He smiled, then looked back at the road, waiting for the light to turn green.

"Tonight was fun." Roman says, trying to put the bathroom incident behind him.

"It was." Seth agrees, putting his phone on his thigh, looking out the window. "The movie was pretty good."

"Yeah," Roman said. _But it was hard to pay attention to it when I was sitting next to you_, he wanted to add to it.

The light turned green, Roman drove straight for a few minutes before turning left into Seth's neighborhood.

"What's wrong, Seth?" Roman asked.

"Nothing, what makes you think something is wrong?" Seth asks, his voice full of sarcasm. He was still looking out the window, looking at all the houses.

Roman sighed, shaking his head. "Seth, all I want to know is why you've been acting like an ass these past few days."

Driving into the parking lot of Seth's apartment building, he parked under a tree. He turned the car off, taking off his seatbelt and turned to face Seth, who finally turned and looked at Roman. He could see that something was bothering Seth - What was it?

"What do you want?" Seth asked, "Did you make a bet with someone at the club? I know your big into betting things with Sasha."

Roman let out a little laugh, then stopped himself. "What are you talking about? The last bet I made was this year's Superbowl between the Ravens and 49ers. I bet the 49ers would win and look at how wrong I was about that."

"So why are you doing this?" Seth asked, pointing to both of them. "Why have you been _acting_ as if you actually want to be 'more' with me? If this is just a joke or a bet that you made with someone, stop it now because I don't want to be humiliated in the end."

"I'm not joking or anything, Seth, I would never do anything like that." Roman said, shaking his head. "Can someone not be interested in another person anymore?"

Seth scoffed, "Not when all they've done for the past two years is deny them a relationship outside of sex!" He exclaimed, "In a way, you're just like Corey, which is pretty ironic since - "

"Hey!" Roman cut him off, pointing at him. There was anger in his voice, he was looking Seth straight in the eyes now. "I've never been and never will be Corey, got that? I just happened to change my mind, okay? Corey never did, he made that damn sure to me countless times."

Seth nodded his head, he knew he shouldn't have compared Roman to Corey because of the past, but he felt that way. He just didn't know Roman was going to react that way.

"I'm sorry." Seth mutters.

"It's alright." Roman lied, looking away and putting his hand down. He could feel the tears forming, but bit his lip to make sure they didn't come. "Maybe you should go get some sleep."

"But I thought you were going to come with me back to my apartment and I give you a show...?" Seth was confused, an eyebrow raised. He was excited for that part of the date.

Roman could only shake his head, "No, not tonight. We've got work tomorrow and it's already late. Plus I'm kind of tired, the movie was longer than I thought." Roman lied, faking a yawn.

Seth nodded his head, taking the hint that Roman was giving him. After that comparison, Roman didn't want to be around Seth, knowing that part of it was true, he was a like Corey in a way and Roman hated that because he promised himself never to be like him.

"Fine," Seth says, sighing. He puts his hand on the door handle, "Maybe we can just re-schedule."

"Yeah, that'll be fine." Roman agrees giving a forced smile.

Seth gets out of the car, slamming the door behind him. Roman watched as he walked into the building, then drove off to go to his home.

* * *

Tyler and Brie had driven back to Brie's house after the movie was over, making small talk about the weather, work and the news.

Tyler pulled up to Brie's driveway and put his car in park.

"Tell me the truth - Did you like that movie?"

"It was good, the ending was different from what I thought would happen. I'm surprised you guessed it." Brie said.

"I just had a feeling." Tyler smiled and looked down.

The two sat there for a few minutes before Brie looked at Tyler, a grin on her face.

"Would you like to come in?" Brie asked, pointing to her house.

At first he was caught off guard, unaware of what she meant. Then he thought about it and understood. Tyler looked out the window to see a light on in one of the rooms. Someone must've been home and he didn't want to do anything with someone else there.

"Trust me, I would love to, but there is a light in one of your rooms, so I think maybe your sister is there and I don't want to get caught." Tyler said, "maybe next time, though."

"Okay." Brie said, trying not to sound upset. "Next time."

Brie took off her seatbelt, opened the car door and got out.

"We should go out again." Tyler said. "I'll call you tomorrow to make the plans?"

Brie gave a half smile, nodding her head. "That's fine, just don't make it too early because Nikki likes to sleep in late and she'll be angry if I wake her."

She closed the car door, walking off as Tyler made sure she got in safe. Once she got in safely, he then drove off. Not knowing where and it came from and not understanding why, but he got this weird feeling that didn't make him feel so good, that something wasn't right.. He just passed down a great night with Brie. What was wrong with him?

* * *

Hope you guys like the new chapter! I love your feedback, so leave me some. Let me know if there is any mistakes and I will try and fix them ASAP!


	5. Confessions

Tyler and Phil decided to hang out at Tyler's house the day after for their day off, relaxing as they watched the baseball game. When Phil had arrived, Tyler already had a beer in his hands, knowing that something happened.

"Jeez Ty, it's only noon and you're already drinking." Phil commented with a puzzled look on his face.

Tyler chose to ignore the comment as he went into the kitchen to get Phil some water as Phil sat down on the couch, watching the commentators on TV talking about one of the players before the game started. He came back with the water, handed it to Phil, then sat down.

They didn't speak of all that much for the first five innings, just cheering for the two teams playing each other. A few hours pass and Phil kept watching as Tyler got more beers. He could tell something was bothering Tyler, he just didn't want to bring it up, he would wait for Tyler to bring it up first and obviously he wasn't wanting to if he hadn't said anything in five innings..

"Tyler, it's only three and you're already drunk." Phil muttered. He didn't mind his friends drinking, he knew it was their life, but he just felt like he needed to say something.

"It's probably eight in London, considering their five hours ahead." Tyler replied.

Phil shook his head in amazement of his excuse. He tried to focus on the game, seeing that a player was being taken out of the game for starting a fight.

"Why do I hang out with you sometimes?" Phil wondered.

Putting the beer bottle down on his coffee table, Tyler chuckles. He laid back on the couch, smiling at Phil. "Because you love me."

Phil nodded his head, pointing at him, "That's it."

They watch more of the game together until Phil gets up to go to the bathroom and Tyler goes into the kitchen.

While in the kitchen, his phone starts to ring. Tyler quickly checks who was calling. Brie was calling him. Surprisingly, he let it ring and go to voicemail. He went over to the fridge and got out a water bottle, closing the fridge.

He went back into the living room where Phil was back on the couch, typing up something on his phone. Sitting down next to him, Tyler showed Phil he was now drinking water. Phil just nodded his head, then went back to his phone.

"Who are you talking to?" Tyler asks.

"Nobody." Phil says, putting his phone in his back pocket. "Who called?"

"Brie." Tyler says in a low voice.

Phil's eyes widened, "Trouble in paradise?"

Tyler shook his head, "No, it's just... I don't know, really." Tyler replied, thinking back to that weird feeling he got as he left Brie's place last night. He opened his water bottle and took a few sips before putting the lid back on. Tyler thought if he explained the feeling to Phil, then he would get it, but then he backed out of it, maybe it was just that one time he would feel that way and didn't need to worry about it.

"Did the date go alright?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "It went fine, I guess. I kind of didn't take her to dinner and when I offered to take her after the movie, she refused."

"Shit, man." Phil muttered, biting his lip to not comment more about this.

Tyler sighed, looking at Phil. "What about you, what did you do last night?"

Phil looked at the TV, the door and then to the pillow that was in between the two of them. He could lie. No, it wouldn't work, he would just have to be honest. "Uh... Went out with somebody last night." Phil looked up to Tyler.

"Who, AJ?" Tyler asked with a wink.

"No, she just broke up with Cena, why would I do that to a co-worker?" Phil shook his head.

"Because you and Cena hate each other." Tyler said. He hit Phil on his arm, "Come on, Philly, tell me. I'm your best friend."

"Hate is a strong word, Ty. More like, I dislike him..." Phil whispered. He hated when Tyler called him "Philly," but he wouldn't complain about it today. Sighing loudly, Phil just wanted to get this over with. "Dean and I went out last night." He confessed, "You remember Dean, right? He just came back from a business trip."

"Like on a date? You and _Dean_?" Tyler asked, a mixture of confusion and shock. He didn't get it - Was Phil gay? "Are you gay?"

"Yes, as a date. We had dinner last night, it was a pretty nice dinner, actually." Phil confirmed, "And yeah, I'm gay, what's so wrong with that?"

Tyler froze, his eyes widening. Was this really happening? He sat there, processing this all. His friend was gay and he went out with Dean Ambrose, the guy that Tyler hadn't worked well with in the past. He sighs. "Nothing, there's nothing wrong with it, you just took me by surprise. Is there anyone else you like?"

"Yeah, but I know he's not interested, so why not move on?" Phil was now realizing that as he said it.

"Who was it? I bet it was - "

Phil just put a hand in the air, "No, it's not anybody at work, if that's what you were going to guess." Phil cut him off, "Just don't even try to guess."

"Why won't you tell me?" Tyler begged, giving Phil the puppy dog lip.

Phil sighed, he was feeling like Tyler was pressuring him into telling him who he liked, now regretting that he said anything about going on a date in the first place. Tyler wouldn't give up.

Out of nowhere, Phil kissed Tyler on the lips, a little peck, and moved back, his face automatically turning red. He got up from the couch, running his hand through his slicked back hair, seeing Tyler just sitting there.

"Shit. Fuck. Sorry." Phil apologized.

Tyler just sat there, not saying anything. It would've made Phil feel better if Tyler said anything, but he just sat there, shocked that he was just kissed by his best friend. Phil looked around the living room, then back to Tyler.

"You know, I forgot I had a thing to do, so I'll just read who won the game in the paper tomorrow. Bye." Phil said.

Phil quickly left the house, slamming the door behind him. He hoped that Tyler didn't remember any of this tomorrow since he was drunk. He regretted kissing him.

As he got into his car, Phil felt like he needed to get out, go somewhere that he usually doesn't go. Anywhere would be better than going home right now.

* * *

Tyler sat up on his couch, realizing that yes, all of this was reality and Phil just came out and said he was gay... And kissed him. Did this mean that Tyler was the guy that Phil liked? Was this the reason that Phil wanted him to get a girlfriend so badly, so he could move on?

Scratching his head, his home phone started ringing. He jumped at the sound of it, getting up to answer it. Maybe it was Brie again, just checking to make sure nothing bad had happened.

Walking into the kitchen, he grabbed the phone and stood in front of the sink, looking out the window. He could see his neighbors outside doing garden work.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Black, is this a bad time?" His boss, Stephanie, asked.

"No, Mrs. McMahon." Tyler lied, shaking his head. _This is a bad time_, he wanted to say, but he knew not to upset the boss. "... Just thinking over some things."

"Okay. Well, my husband and I have to host the company picnic this year so we were thinking that we should have a fun kind of game that all the young kids could play." Stephanie explained.

"That sounds fun." Tyler muttered with no sound of excitement.

"Thanks," Stephanie says, "We haven't figured out what game we want the children to play yet, but I was calling to know if you'd be comfortable being paired up with Mr. Brooks and Ms. Bella to be in a group that will host one the games? I know that you and Mr. Brooks are very good friends."

"Yes, that's fine." Tyler lied, his voice filled with a little sarcasm. "We are friends, all of us - There shouldn't be any problem at all."

_Just my luck,_ Tyler thought.

* * *

Let me know what you guys are thinking so far! Hope everyone is liking it. Please let me know if there is any mistakes and I will fix them ASAP!


	6. Not So Nice Quiet Days

It was a quiet day at work. Seth arrived at the club for his afternoon shift without getting a call from Roman, hoping he'd already be at the club. But he wasn't. Hours went by, it got closer to the time for Seth's shift to end, the club had gotten busy, but still no Roman.

A man with slicked back hair and a trimmed beard sat down on a bar stool in front of him. His head was down, he looked like something had just happened to him. Seth walked up to him since he was the only bartender there at the moment, giving a half smile.

"What can I get you today?" Seth wondered.

Phil looked up to Seth for a minute, looked back down, then quickly looked back up. He noticed something about him and pointed at him, "Do I know? Are you working here on the weekends?"

Seth gave him a confused look, checking all over the club to make sure that this customer was indeed talking about him. He saw Sasha coming into the club, putting her coat on the coat hanger, walking towards the bar, then taking care of a customer, smiling at them. He looked back to Phil, convinced he was talking to him. "I'm sorry?"

Phil shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head, "Nevermind, forget it - I'll just have a Pepsi."

Seth nodded his head, feeling a bit weird now. He put an two ice cubes in a glass, opened a can of Pepsi and poured it in the glass. He put a napkin down, then put the glass on top and slid it across the counter to Phil. He muttered a thanks, then took the glass, gulped some of it down, swallowed it and put the glass back on the counter. He looked over his shoulder to see someone leaving the stage.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help but notice, but is something bothering you?" Seth asks.

Phil looks back at Seth, then chuckles to himself. How does he plan to tell a Tyler-look-a-like about his problems with Tyler? "Do all bartenders do this?"

Seth shook his head with a smile. "No, but I'm a bartender who likes to butt into my customer's lives. If there were awards for best bartenders, I'd probably win every year. I'm planning to write a book with the best stories I've heard."

"That's a joke, right?" Phil asked with a little grin. Seth nodded his head 'yes'. Phil wouldn't ever see this guy again, so why tell him his problems? But he was being nice to Phil and taking his time out of his work to talk to him. "Alright. This guy I like, he - I kind of kissed him when he got drunk, but he's dating one our co-workers..." Phil trailed off, noticing a woman walking up to the two of them.

"Hi! I'm sorry to interrupt, but can I speak to Seth for a quick minute? Business issues." Sasha smiled.

Phil sighed, waving it off. Sasha grabbed Seth's arm and dragged him away from the bar, into the back by the supply closet. Sasha had a tight grip on Seth's arm.

"Let go of me, Sasha!" Seth exclaimed. Sasha rolled her eyes, then let go of his arm, Seth rubbed his arm. "You know for tiny girl, you sure are strong."

Sasha smiles, "Thank you."

They stood there for a few seconds in silence as one of the workers, Fandango, walks by them. He smiles at them, Sasha waves at him and Seth smiles at him.

Once they were alone again and they were sure Fandango was on stage, Seth looked at Sasha, who was looking to the ground.

"We don't always speak to each other, so why are you talking to me now?" Seth asked. She'd always been more closer to Roman since they shared an apartment a year back when her parent's stopped talking to her and she needed a place to stay. She'd worked at a restaurant until she was able to work at the club earlier this year.

Sasha sighed, shaking her head. The only reason why they'd never talk that much was because he ignored her sometimes. "Look, we may not be friends, but I am with Roman, okay? I want to know what happened last night when the two of you went on a date."

"At the movies?" Seth wondered. Sasha nodded her head. He couldn't tell her about afterwards, she'd be pissed at him. He decided to lie, "Nothing."

Sasha gave him a look that let him know she wasn't buying any of it, crossing her arms over her chest. "Cut the crap, I know something's up."

Seth sighed, looking to make sure they were alone, then back to Sasha. "Last night we got into an argument... And I might have compared him to Corey..." Seth trailed off, looking up to the ceiling, closing his eyes. He knew she was going to be pissed. Maybe he should have just lied about it, said they had an argument about something else.

Sasha gasped, then he thought that's all she would do to react. He opened his eyes and looked back at her. Then she punched Seth on his right arm, the one that she had a tight grip on earlier. "How could you! You know what happened between them - I know and this happened before I even knew any of you guys."

"But in a way, he is like Corey." Seth said, arguing with her.

"Yeah, but you didn't have to say that straight to his face!" Sasha exclaimed, "You know know how scared he is to become like him!"

"_Why does this even matter to you_?" Seth asked, getting angry. "Aren't you in a relationship with someone yourself?"

Sasha was shocked at his response to her. "I am, but Roman is my friend. Scratch that, he's like a brother to me." She replied, "He called in sick today or something, and I wanted to know why. I overheard Mr. McMahon talking about how Roman called today and said they needed to talk about something."

Shit. "About what?" Seth asked, now more concerned than he already was.

"How am I supposed to know? I only heard that part." Sasha informed, shrugging her shoulders, "maybe he's going to visit family and needs time off?"

Seth shook his head, knowing that wasn't it. He was worried about Roman, hoping he didn't do anything he'd regret later. Why did he need to speak to Vince?

Taking a deep breath, Seth nodded his head, walking away from Sasha and back into the bar area. The customer was gone, a $20 dollar bill was next to the empty glass. Seth took it and put it in his back pants pocket.

About 30 minutes go by, the club started to get a little quiet. Sasha stayed away from Seth, making herself busy by serving all the customers.

Surprisingly, they saw Roman walk into the club, dressed in a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, a leather jacket with sunglasses on and car keys in one hand. He took the sunglasses off, looking around the club. His hair had been put up, but he looked tired.

"Roman, hey!" Seth said.

Roman looked at Seth, but walked by him, ignoring him. He walked by Sasha, waving at her and smiling. Everyone saw him go into the back, probably going to talk to Vince. Sasha looked at Seth, giving him an 'I told you so' look.

Fandango finished, Ziggler went on stage and finished before Roman came out of the office, joining the customers at the bar. He sat on one of the bar stools, smiling at Sasha.

"Bacardi Gold." Roman ordered.

Sasha got the order, handed it to Roman, who gulped it down real quick. Seth was off his shift, but he walked up to where Sasha and Roman were. Roman asked for another, Sasha refilled the glass quickly. Seth couldn't help but look Roman up and down.

"What did you talk to McMahon about?" Seth wondered.

"None of your business, Seth. It was business, that's it." Roman said.

"Why are you drinking?" Seth asked. Roman looked at him, he sighed. "Does this have to do with last night?"

Roman rolled his eyes, taking the last sip of his drink, "Get off my back, Seth, okay? I'm just meeting someone."

"Who?" Sasha wondered, refilling the glass again.

Roman wasn't a heavy drinker, so whoever he was meeting must have made him want to drink. A lot.

Roman looked to the door, then back to Sasha and Seth. "You'll see." He got off the bar stool, pulling out a $10, then walked over to the door and spoke to a guy covered in tattoos, sunglasses on. The mysterious guy smiled at Roman and they walked out of the club together.

_I can't fucking believe it_, Seth thought.

"Who was that guy?" Sasha wonders.

"That was Corey Graves." Seth sighs.

* * *

Let me know what you are thinking so far. If you see any mistakes, let me know and I will fix them ASAP! Thank you for reading. I hope to have a new chapter up soon.


	7. Who Will Fall Behind?

It had been a week since they last spoke. Tyler had been having lunch with Brie now, while Phil had decided to eat alone in his office. People in the office could tell that something was up between the two of them, although no one was sure what.

Stephanie had finally called Tyler, Brie, and Phil into her office, her husband sitting next to her.

"You guys are sure you have no problem with being paired up together?" Paul asked.

Stephanie looked over at her husband, "Honey, I already asked them and they all said there wasn't a problem."

"Just checking." Paul said, folding his hands.

"No, sir, we don't have a problem being paired up." Brie said, reassuring them anyway. She looked over at Tyler, then back to her boss and her husband. "Actually, Tyler and I have been dating."

Phil looked away from everyone and looked at all the awards they've won over the past few years on the walls. He rolled his eyes. Stephanie noticed that something was up with Phil, although she didn't bother ask in front of everyone.

Stephanie smiled, "Congratulations, you two."

"Thank you, Mrs. McMahon." Tyler says.

Stephanie cleared her throat, put her hands on her desk and folded them together. "Now, getting back to business, we have decided that the game all the children will play is soccer. The other group of captains will be Alberto on team read, John and Daniel on team blue. Is all of this alright?"

"Yeah, it is." Phil spoke, now looking back to everyone. "May I be excused?"

Stephanie was surprised by how impatient Phil was being with this meeting. She scoffed. "Sure, but make sure you don't do this again, got it Mr. Brooks?"

Phil nodded his head, got up from the chair and quickly left the office. Paul and Stephanie exchanged looks, then looked back to Tyler and Brie. They both sat next to each other still, Brie was smiling at them and Tyler couldn't help but look over his shoulder. What was going on with Phil today?

Tyler looked back at Stephanie and Paul, smiling at them. He was trying to act like nothing was going on between him and Phil ever since he left Tyler's house.

"Since Phil has decided to leave us, I'm going to just go ahead and say the meeting is over." Stephanie says, "But, Mr. Black, can I speak with you alone?"

Brie gets up slowly from her chair, smiles at Stephanie and leaves the office. Paul's phone starts to ring and he excuses himself from the office as well. Now it was just Stephanie and Tyler.

Tyler was worried. He felt like a kid in the principal's office. Why did his boss need to talk to him alone? He'd been doing well at his job.

"Is there something going on between you and Mr. Brooks? Have you guys gotten into an argument?" Stephanie asks with a puzzled look on her face.

Tyler couldn't find the words so he shook his head. "Uh... No, why?"

"Well, Mr. Brooks asked to move offices earlier. He said that you and him had a disagreement and is finding it hard to work near you." Stephanie explained. She threw her hands up in the air, shaking her head. "I don't know what happened or if any of it is true, but - "

"None of it is true! Phil made that up, we didn't have an arguments." Tyler cut her off, defending their friendship. Tyler wanted to tell her that they hadn't even spoken to each other outside of meetings this whole week, so it was impossible for them to have a disagreement.

"Calm down, Mr. Black. Just talk to him after work and ask him, that's all." Stephanie suggested. "That's the only way you'll know what is wrong."

Tyler nodded his head, trying to calm down. He had a feeling that it had something to do when Phil was over at Tyler's house to watch the game. Yeah, that must've been it.

Tyler got up from his chair, stood straight and shook Stephanie's hand before leaving the office. Once he was outside, he saw Paul arguing with someone on the phone. He hung up and walked into the office.

Tyler walked down the hall until he bumped into Phil who was leaving the bathroom. They looked at each other for a few seconds, both feeling the tension. Tyler pushed Phil back into the bathroom, Tyler locked the bathroom door behind them. He walked back over to where Phil was standing.

"What the fuck, Ty?" Phil freaked out.

"Why'd you ask Mrs. McMahon to move your office? We didn't have any argument at all, you just stopped talking to me!" Tyler exclaimed.

Phil sighed, "Yeah, we did."

"When?" Tyler asked, lowering his voice. He couldn't remember it.

"Sunday, when you got drunk." Phil informed. So it did have something to do with that day.

Tyler thought back to Sunday. He remembered most of the day, but there were some stuff he didn't remember.

"You mean before you walked out of my house?" Tyler asked, "... After you told me that you were gay?"

Phil cleared his throat, he looked at the mirror on the wall, rubbed his nose, then put his hands on his pants pockets. He looked at Tyler, no expression on his face.

"You have no idea what happened, you were drunk." Phil denied.

Tyler scoffed, "Oh, please! I may have had alcohol in me, but I remember what happened - You said you were dating Dean and then you kissed me. I remember what happened, Phil." Tyler recalled.

Phil shook his head, biting his lip. He couldn't believe Tyler remembered all of that stuff, he was hoping he didn't remember that part. What was he supposed to say to him?

Sighing, Phil scratched his head. Tyler stood there, waiting for Phil to say something. Anything.

"Why were you so scared for me to know, Phil?" Tyler asked, "We're best friends."

Phil looks down to the ground. He still wouldn't say anything.

"Is that why you wanted me to go out with Brie - Because you liked me?" Tyler continued.

Phil nodded his head, refusing to look at Tyler now. Phil not talking to Tyler was driving him crazy, why he just speak? He could explain this stuff to Tyler instead of just making him guess.

Tyler pushed Phil up against the wall, Phil finally looked at Tyler. He trapped Phil by putting his hands near Phil's shoulders.

"Let me go, Ty." Phil said.

"Not until you tell me why I didn't know! Did you honestly think I would be angry at you?" Tyler yelled.

Sometimes Tyler just couldn't let something go until he got an answer and it annoyed Phil.

Phil looked Tyler in the eyes, there had been a little look of sadness in his eyes. "We've all got at least one secret, Ty. Not everyone can have a perfect life like you, there is some stuff people have to hide from people." Phil commented.

Phil moved Tyler's arms that was trapping him from moving. He buttoned up his suit jacket, then left Tyler alone in the bathroom.

What did Phil mean by that?

* * *

Brie had came over to Tyler's house after work, they ate dinner together and watched a movie. Tyler had asked her to stay the night, shocking both of them. She had went back to her home and brought a small bag which had everything she needed.

Tyler had already been in bed when Brie came into the room after her shower, only in a towel. She went over by the door and grabbed the bag, throwing it on the bed and unzipped it.

"How much stuff do you have in that bag?" Tyler asked. "It looks like your going on a vaction."

Brie laughs, shaking her head. "Don't worry, the bag isn't full or anything. I brought some pajamas, clothes to get ready for work tomorrow, and makeup."

"I think you look nice without makeup." Tyler complimented.

Brie blushed, "Thank you." her long wet hair covering her face as she bent down.

She felt him staring at her as she was going through the bag to get her pajamas, then she grabbed the shirt and stood tall. The towel was short so he had almost seen her whole body.

"Have a problem?" Brie asked.

Tyler shook his head, grinning. "I like what I see..." He said with a wink.

"Are you trying to flirt with me?" Brie wonders with a laugh.

Tyler nodded his head, "I know, I suck at flirting."

"You do." Brie agreed.

Brie zipped the bag up, putting it on the floor as she sat down on the bed, her back facing Tyler. She put her hair in a ponytail. Tyler moved closer to her, kissing her back, she half smiled.

"Tyler?" Brie spoke.

"Hmm?" He continued to kiss her back, then her shoulder, her neck. She threw her head back, closing her eyes and started to moan.

"We... should... stop, right?"

Tyler shook his head and she chuckled. They kissed. She laid down on the bed, throwing the shirt on the floor. He untied the towel at the top, she took off his shirt and sweatpants.

Her hands running over the hard, tanned muscles of his torso. He kissed his way up and down the tanned, smooth skin of her body. Tyler stopped for a minute, reaching into his nightstand next to the bed and grabbed a condom, putting it on quickly.

Tyler slowly pushed inside her, pumping in and out of her as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She cried out his name when she came and not long after he came too. He pulled out of her, laid next to her on the bed as they tried to catch their breath.

"So... That was fun." Tyler joked.

Brie laughs. He looks over at her as she looked up to the ceiling, a huge grin on her face.

"I was thinking... Maybe you'd like to stay at my place for a little while?" Tyler asked.

Brie finally looked at him, "You mean like move in together?" He nodded his head, "Do you ask every girl that after sex?"

"Not really, it's a rare thing." Tyler said.

She thought about it, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess we could give it a try."

As they smiled at each other, Tyler started to get that same weird feeling he felt after he dropped her off at her place after the movie date. He couldn't help but think of Phil. Why wasn't he thinking of Brie though?

* * *

Hope everyone is liking it so far! Let me know what you are thinking and if you see any mistakes, I will fix them ASAP! So sorry for the rushed sex scene, I'm not too comfortable with them. Thanks for reading.


	8. Letting Go Is Hard To Do

All week the job was slow and not as busy as it had been recently. Roman didn't show up at work all week, worrying Seth. The day after Roman showed up to talk to Vince, someone took over his shift at 10 - A woman that was popular with the female customers.

Everytime Sasha and Seth shared the same shift or she was coming in when he walking out of the club, he'd always ask her if she'd talked to Roman, but her answer was always the same - No, she hadn't. Maybe she was lying to him, he didn't know, but Seth hoped that she wouldn't lie to him.

* * *

Coming home from work one night, Seth had stopped at a restaurant near his neighborhood to get his dinner and then a dollar store near his apartment building and bought a pack of cigarettes.

Once he got home, it was 10 PM. He locked the door after he was in his apartment, walking into the kitchen. He set the pack of cigarettes and lighter with the food on the counter, going into the fridge and grabbing a beer bottle. He slammed the fridge door shut, opening the beer and throwing the lid into the trash can next to the fridge. He leaned against the counter, taking a sip of the beer.

He turned around, putting the bottle down and going into the cabinet and grabbing a plate. He closed the cabinet, then went over to the bag his dinner was in. He took out the bowl of spaghetti and put it on top of the plate, then got out the plastic fork, putting it next to the bowl on the plate.

Seth took the plate into the living room, placing it on the coffee table, going back into the kitchen to grab his beer and cigarettes and lighter. He walked back into the living room, sitting down on the couch, placing his beer on the coffee table and then getting a cigarette out of the pack and lit it. He took a long drag of the cigarette, letting the smoke leave his mouth as he grabbed the remote and turned the TV on and he saw that the ID channel was on. He shook his head, chuckling, his roommate must've been here earlier. He decided to keep the channel on, listening to the story that just so happens to have happened in Delaware.

Finishing the cigarette, Seth put it out in the ashtray on the coffee table, then took the lid off the bowl of spaghetti and mixed the noodles in the sauce. He started to eat his dinner.

Out of nowhere, his roommate, Naomi, came out of her room all dressed up. She was wearing a short blue sparkly dress, her makeup done, her hair curly. Seth jumped and started to cough. He grabbed his beer and took a sip quickly. He put it back on the coffee table.

"Jesus, Naomi, you scared me! How long have you been here?" Seth freaked out. Naomi had been living with her boyfriend Jimmy for the past year but kept stuff in her room in the apartment she shared with Seth.

"Since around five." Naomi says. Naomi was smiling ear to ear. "Jimmy and I decided to go out tonight... And celebrate."

Seth looked at her weirdly, "Celebrate what?"

Naomi showed Seth her left hand; On her ring finger, was an engagement ring. Seth gasped, he got up from the couch and hugged her tightly. She started to laugh. He pulled away, he was smiling with her. He was happy for her.

"When did he propose?" Seth asked.

"Yesterday." Naomi confirmed. "I came over to start packing today. Tomorrow when your at work, Jimmy is coming over to help me move into his place officially."

"When's the wedding?" Seth asked, "Can I be one of the best men?"

"Sorry, but you can't."

"Why?"

"Because Jimmy said he only wanted two best men - His brother Jey and Roman, since he's his cousin and he did introduce us..." Naomi explained frowning, she knew this would sadden Seth.

Seth looked to the ground, then back up to her. He nodded his head, "Oh. Okay."

Naomi remembered what happened between Roman and Seth the past few weeks. "Still no call?"

Seth shook his head, "But I'm guessing he's talked to Jimmy?"

Naomi bit her lip, walking away from Seth and into the kitchen, going into the fridge to get a water bottle. Seth turned around to face her, she was taking a long sip of water. She knew something and was trying to ignore this conversation so she didn't have to tell Seth what he already deep down has known for the past week.

"What do you know, Naomi Knight?" Seth asks.

Naomi swallows the water, closing the water bottle and putting it on the counter. She looked anywhere but at Seth, shaking her head. Sighing, she finally looked at Seth, giving him a sympathetic look.

"He sold his apartment and he's now living near Little Italy in a _really nice_ house." Naomi informed, shrugging her shoulders, "At least, that's what Jimmy said when he and Jey visited them."

"Why the fuck - That's close to where I live." Seth said, then caught on to what she said, "Wait, _them_?"

Naomi nodded her head, "Sweetie, he's kind of back with Corey."

No. Deep down he knew it was true, but he still wanted to deny it. Why would Roman want to go back to Corey when he was going out with Seth? Naomi must be lying.

"You're shitting me, aren't you? Did Jimmy tell you to say that? Roman would never go back to Corey, I know that for a fact." Seth denied with a slight chuckle.

"You don't know what fully happened in their relationship, Seth. Roman's family knows it all. There's a few thing he doesn't want you to know so he's kept it to himself." Naomi said.

"So why go back to him when he had a good thing going with me? At least I treat him like a person and not a piece of meat!" Seth exclaimed.

Naomi's eyes widen, "You need to calm down, Seth! You compared Roman to Corey and he must have freaked out. Apparently he called Corey to talk. Maybe Corey said something that pulled Roman back in."

At that time, there was a knock at the door. Naomi walked over to the door, opening it to see Jimmy standing there in a white suit, smiling. Seth sighed. Jimmy waved to Seth, who waved back and went to sit back down on the couch. He started to eat his dinner, which was surprisingly still warm.

He could hear Naomi and Jimmy discussing what they wanted to do tonight - Go to a club or go back to his place and have some wine. They decided what they wanted to do, then Jimmy gave Naomi his jacket since it was a little chilly out.

"Okay, we're leaving, Seth." Naomi said.

"Alright," Seth said, "Hey, congrats on the engagement!"

"Thanks, man." Jimmy said.

The door closed and Seth was alone.

* * *

12:05 AM, the clock read in big numbers. Roman sighed. He sat up bed, trying to calm down from the nightmare he just woke up from. He was drenched in sweat, his tank top sticking to his skin.

After calming down a little, telling himself it was just a dream, he got out of the bed he shared with a sleeping Corey slowly and quietly to make sure he didn't wake him up. He walked out of the bedroom, leaving the door wide open. He went downstairs and went into the kitchen, going into a cabinet to get a cup. He closed the cabinet, walking over to the sink, turning the faucet on. He got some water, turned the faucet off and gulped down the water. He put the cup in the sink, washing his hands.

Roman dried his hands on his sweatpants, looking out the window, letting his mind drift off. He started to think about Seth, wondering what he's been doing these days, if he has already moved on and started to forget about him. Corey did tell Roman that he saw Seth at lunch with a beautiful brunette woman everyday while he tried to get to work and he once saw them holding hands. Whoever he was with, Roman hoped they were happy together.

_That's good he's moving on_, Roman thought, _at least he'll be happy after being miserable these past two years_.

A phone ringing brought Roman out of his thoughts. He walked into the hallway where the table by the door was, grabbing his cellphone that he left there earlier. He answered it without looking to see who was calling. At this hour, it must be an emergency. "Hello?"

There was silence on both ends. Neither of them would speak, thinking the other would speak first. Roman yawned, feeling tired.

"Hey, Rome." The person spoke. Roman stood there, frozen, feeling chills down his back.

Was this really happening? Roman was so shocked he couldn't think of anything to say - He was speechless that this person had called, getting to hear their voice again.

"Look, I don't care if you're going to ignore me, but I just wanted to say that I hope you're okay and Corey treats you well." Seth said, "I may not see you ever again, so I just want you to know that I wish life treats you well."

Roman wanted to say something, anything - How happy he was to hear Seth's voice again, ask him why it sounded like he was saying goodbye to him, explain to him why he went back to Corey - but he couldn't find any words coming out of his mouth. Then he heard the other end on the phone hang up. He sighed, shaking his head.

"Roman?" Corey called.

Roman put the phone back where it was, then went back upstairs to meet Corey at the top. He gave Corey a half smile.

"Sorry, the phone rang." Roman explained.

Corey looked like he was half-asleep, he was rubbing one of his eyes so maybe he wouldn't question Roman so much.

"Who was it? Don't your friends know it's in the middle of the morning?" Corey asked, annoyance showing in his voice.

Roman nodded his head, clearing his throat. "Yeah, it was just a wrong number." Roman lied. He grabbed Corey's arm lightly, "Come on, let's go back to bed."

* * *

Seth sat at his kitchen table and buried his head into his hands. He needed to let Roman go.

* * *

Hope everyone liked the new chapter! Let me know what you are thinking and if I made any mistakes, I will fix them ASAP! Thank you for reading.


	9. I Go Off Like a Gun

"I have a feeling your group is going to lose today and if they do, what are you going to do about it?" Alberto Del Rio joked, laughing.

Tyler pretended to laugh with Del Rio, then stopped. He rolled his eyes. Bryan and Cena were at the other side of the soccer field, cheering on their team. Tyler looked Alberto up and down as Alberto held his water bottle in one hand, smiling at him.

"Maybe I'll smack you." Tyler said, serious. "Honestly, our team could come back and win."

Alberto laughed, shaking his head. He put his free arm around Tyler's neck, "Calm down, amigo. There is no chance your team is winning, considering that the score is nine to three and all we need is one more goal." Alberto took his arm off Tyler's neck, "You want to know why your team isn't winning? Because their coaches are arguing and won't work together." Alberto hit Tyler on his left arm, pointing to behind him.

Tyler looked behind him to see Brie and Phil standing next to each other, but not speaking to one another. Phil hadn't been so talkative to Tyler lately, he hadn't really been trying to coach these children either. Phil was just watching.

Alberto was right about the three of them, although why would Tyler admit it to Alberto? It's not like they were friends, he was always ignorant to Tyler when they spoke.

Tyler looked back at Alberto, "You don't know anything about our team."

"I know that there are rumors going around that you and Phil aren't friends anymore. Is that true?"

To be honest, Tyler didn't even know. The only time they spoke was during meetings.

Tyler shook his head. He heard footsteps behind him, then a whistle blown. Team Blue won. Everyone looked towards the soccer field, seeing the players from each team shaking hands.

"Del Rio, don't you have to go celebrate with your team? I mean, unless you want to join the losing team... Which I doubt you want to do." Phil said. Phil was standing next to Tyler, standing tall, crossing his arms over his chest. The day before Phil had shaved his head and beard, shocking all his co-workers when he showed up to the company picnic today.

"Yeah, but - "

"Then go celebrate and let my team be crushed that they didn't win." Phil cut him off.

Albert walked off, surprised at how Phil just walked up to him and told him to leave.

Tyler looked at Phil and smiled. He missed his best friend.

"Thanks for saving my ass, dude." Tyler said relaxing a little.

"No problem. It was that or hear Brie go on and on about how you two are moving in together." Phil muttered, looking to the ground, then towards the children, disappointment evident on his face.

Tyler felt bad that he had to hear it that way, but since they never spoke outside of work there was no other way to tell him.

The children were leaving the soccer field with their parents and were going towards all the picnic tables to eat as Brie and the other coaches followed, Tyler and Phil staying behind.

Phil looked back to Tyler, who was now looking at everyone leaving the field. He felt horrible for not talking to Tyler because they have been friends since he came here from Chicago and didn't mind him being who he was. Finally Tyler looked back at Phil.

"So when are you going to stop being a jerk and actually talk to me?" Tyler asked, "I'm okay with you being gay. If you had a crush on me, why didn't you just say something?"

Phil's eyebrows raised. He smiled, trying to take his questions serious. "Really? I'm going to tell my straight best friend that his gay best friend wanted to be more than friends with him? It would be awkward... It is awkward now."

"It's awkward because you won't talk to me!" Tyler argued.

"Because you act like everyone can be out and nobody won't be bothered by it. We live in the real world, Ty. People are going to be bothered by it, that's why I prefer to keep it a secret." Phil explained.

Tyler realized that Phil was right. "I'm sorry." He apologized.

Someone called Tyler. He looked over Phil's shoulder to see Brie smiling at him, then back to Phil. Phil already knew who called Tyler.

"Just go, I'm going to get something to eat." Phil said, already walking away.

Tyler sighed, he just wanted everything to be better with Phil, but on the bright side, he did make a little progress with Phil by speaking to him just now. Things take time Tyler had to reminded himself.

Walking towards Brie, he took her hand into his and gave her a smile. Everything in their relationship had been going fine lately, even when they took Nikki out to dinner to tell her that Brie was moving in with Tyler. She took it well, happy for them and happy to live alone, but a little upset that her and Brie weren't going to be as close.

They walked to a food stand, waiting in what was a long line.

"So who started bragging first that they won the game?" Tyler asked.

Brie laughed, "Alberto, but Daniel joined in. John told all of the kids, even on our team, that they did well and that no matter what, we were all winners."

Tyler nodded his head. He looked at the menu, seeing what kind of food this kind of stand had. When Stephanie and her husband had been making the plans on what kind of food they were going to have, they couldn't decide and went with all different kinds of food.

"What did you and Phil talk about? Was he apologizing for ignoring you?" Brie asked.

Tyler shrugged his shoulders, he hadn't told her the real reason why they weren't talking so much, he lied and said both of them were busy. "He was telling me how last night he went out on a date." He lied.

"Interesting, do we know her?" Brie wondered.

"I don't think so, he said the two met at the music store." Tyler replied.

Someone walked by the two of them, then stopped and looked at Tyler. He was giving him a weird look, like he knew Tyler from somewhere before.

The guy had long black hair pulled into a ponytail, jeans and a short sleeve shirt on that revealed half of his arm tattoo. Tyler remembered the guy now - He was from the movie theatre, the one in the bathroom. Did he work at the company? If so, was he new?

"Can I help you?" Tyler asked, a little creeped out.

This guy had a half-drunken soda bottle in his one hand. "What are you doing here, Seth? What did you do to your hair?"

Tyler was confused. "Who are you talking about? I'm _Tyler Black_ and I work at this company, that's why I'm here."

Roman shook his head, "Cut the crap, Seth."

Tyler let go of Brie's hand, turned to face Roman completely and looked him in the eyes. This guy really did think Tyler was some guy named Seth. Tyler touched his shoulders, shaking him a little.

"There is no Seth!" Tyler yelled, gaining attention to the two of them. "I'm Tyler, got it? There's only one of me! Not Seth, just Tyler."

Roman was about to say something when one of Tyler's co-workers, Corey Graves, stood next to him. Roman closed his mouth, looking to the ground. His cheeks were starting to turn red from embarrassment.

Tyler didn't know Corey all that well, he saw him at the office here and there when he was leaving meetings before, but he had known not to get onto Corey's bad-side.

Corey had looked angry, his hands were in a fist.

"Get your hands off him." Corey said through gritted teeth. "... before you get a black eye."

"Calm down, Corey. It's not a big deal." Roman said.

Tyler let go of Roman's shoulders and watched as the two of them walked away, Corey saying something to Roman. Tyler went back to standing next to Brie, going into his pocket to grab his wallet.

"What was that?" Brie wondered.

"I don't know and I don't think I want to know." Tyler replied.

* * *

A few hours later, everyone had ate, played game and was ready to go home. The company picnic seemed like a success.

While walking to his car, Tyler and Brie were talking about going furniture shopping, which freaked Tyler out a bit. Yes, this was real. _Brie was moving in with him_. He hadn't had this serious of a relationship since the beginning of college.

"You know what? I don't need this company! Screw you guys!" Someone screamed.

Phil walked by backwards, his arm in the air, then rested next to him. He stopped walking for a second, taking a deep breath, running his hand over his head. He needed to just calm down. He turned and started to walk again.

"Phil!" Brie called.

Phil stopped again, sighing. He turned around with a smile they could both tell was meant as sarcasm.

"Yes, may I help you guys?"

"Did you just scream that around kids?" Brie asked.

Most of the employees and their children had already left, but still some children could be around and Phil was yelling things they shouldn't be hearing.

"Actually, the kids were in the car and yes, I did. I'm sorry but people do make mistakes sometimes, Miss Perferct." Phil said rolling his eyes.

"What happened?" Tyler asked, curious.

"Mrs. McMahon suspended me for two weeks or more." Phil informed.

"Why?!" Brie and Tyler asked together.

"Because her husband caught me kissing Dean Ambrose by his car." Phil confessed. "I thought it would be okay because were under a tree and no one was around. But then her husband walked by, told her and we couldn't deny it so now I'm suspended..."

"You kissed Dean?" Brie was confused. "What about Dean?"

"Yes!" Phil exclaimed, "I don't know about him because Mrs. McMahon said she'd talk to him tomorrow at work."

"I'm sorry, Phil." Tyler said.

Phil shook his head, waving it off. "Just stop saying that, Ty. This is what I was talking about." Phil stormed off, leaving Tyler and Brie alone and surprised.

"Wow," Tyler muttered, "Today had been very crazy."

* * *

Next chapter we get to meet a new character from Seth's past... It may or may not be scandalous. I hope you liked the new chapter! Let me know what you're thinking and if you see any mistakes and I will fix them ASAP! Thank you for reading.


	10. Habits Die Hard

Roman was sitting on the couch in his living room, the light off. He had a bottle of Mickey's beer in one of hand, remote in the other. He was focused on watching the pre-season football game with the Steelers playing against the Vikings, the game had been tied.

The door opened and closed, car keys being put in the bowl on the table in the hallway. Corey took off his coat, putting it on the coat hanger and came into the living room, sitting down next to Roman on the couch. He turned on a lamp that was on a nightstand next to the couch.

"Hey." Corey says.

"Hi." Roman replies, eyes still on the screen.

Corey looks at his hands, "Have you eaten yet?"

Roman nods, taking a sip of his beer. He swallowed it, watching as one of the guys on the Vikings scored a touchdown. "Yeah, I stopped by Season's and got a piece of pizza. I got you a sub, it's in the fridge." Roman said, now looking over at Corey to see if he was okay with what he got him. Corey nodded his head, smiling at him. Roman smiled back. Corey gave Roman a quick peck on his cheek as he got up from the couch and went into the kitchen.

Roman sat there, trying to pay attention to the game again, but he couldn't pay attention to it anymore. Shaking his head, he turned off the TV, putting the remote on the cushion and got up from the couch himself, walking into the kitchen. Corey was standing at the island, putting his sub onto a plate. Roman sat himself down at the table near the window, watching Corey throw away the box the sub came in. He got out a soda from the fridge, then carried both over to the table. He put them down and sat down.

"How'd the job searching go today? Any luck?" Corey asks.

Roman had quit his job at the strip club a few weeks back and has been looking for a job since then.

Roman shrugged his shoulders, "Okay, I guess. I went downtown and applied for a job as a chef at a pretty popular restaurant. They said I should hear from them in about a day or two."

Corey smiled, opening the soda. "I'm surprised." He said, drinking some of his grape soda.

"Why?" Roman asks, worried something was wrong with his dinner.

Corey put the top back on the bottle, putting it back on the table. "I'm just shocked that you cook, that's all. We were together for years and I never knew that about you." He chuckled a little, grabbing his sub and took a bite out of it.

Roman shook his head, gulping down the last of his beer. That's where Corey was wrong. He placed it back on the table, chuckling himself. "Nah, we were never together. You want to make it sound like that to all of your business friends, but I was only someone you strung along for those years."

Roman remembered all those nights he'd come home to find Corey with someone else, all the fights they had about how Roman would've liked to have been in a committed relationship with Corey. Every night he'd tell himself that he never wanted to end up being like Corey, but the next relationship he got into, he was doing the same thing.

"You had fun at the company picnic, didn't you?" Corey asks, taking another bite of his sub.

Roman looked down to his beer bottle, nodding his head. To be honest, he hated it.

"Why'd you even ask for us to try a relationship when I called you back a few weeks ago?" Roman bluntly asked.

Corey sighed, putting the sub down onto the plate, grabbing a napkin to wipe his hands. He'd called Roman to talk to him and one day out of the blue, Roman called and agreed to speak. Well, the rest is history.

"It's simple - I've changed, Rome." Corey said, shrugging his shoulders. "And I missed you."

Roman believed him - Corey had seemed to have changed. Roman started to blush when Corey said he missed him.

"How was work?" Roman asked, changing the subject.

"Boring, Alberto threw it in the other team's faces that his team won." Corey says.

"That's a way to make a boring day into an interesting one." Roman said with a laugh.

"It was, but Phil wasn't there today. Stephanie said he went on a vacation, he'll be back in two weeks." Corey explained.

Corey's phone started to ring and they both looked at each other. He got up and left the kitchen, whispering into the phone.

Roman just sat in the kitchen, biting his lip. Corey could've been planning something as a surprise, but there wasn't anything big coming up so that wasn't it. A fear came to Roman. Corey could be seeing someone else. Did he want to cry or yell? Why did he believe Corey in the first place? He hadn't changed at all.

* * *

Seth was smoking a cigarette in the front of the pizza place. Surprisingly for an August night, it had been cold. A few people were sitting inside, eating their food. When Seth finished his cigarette, he flicked it onto the ground, putting it out and then went inside. He smiled when he started to become warm.

He ordered a piece of pizza to go and bought a bottle of water. He paid for the stuff, went to sit down at an empty table and watched some of a rerun of Friends. It started to rain.

Seth heard someone laughing behind him, then they walked by him and walked up to the counter. The man had gotten the bag his order was in, smiled and looked over to where Seth was. He knew him. The guy walked up to Seth table and waited until Seth looked away from the TV to see the guy standing there.

The man was tall, his body was toned. He had an oval face, green eyes, olive skin and dirty blonde hair.

"Seth Rollins?" The man asked, he had a deep voice. He smiled.

"Tommy Evans?" Seth asked, smiling.

Seth stood up and hugged Tommy, patting each other on their backs. It had been so long since they last saw each other. The old friends pulled away from the hug, sitting down at the table.

Tommy couldn't help but smile at seeing Seth again - The both of them had changed since the last time they last saw each other.

"What are you still doing in Delaware? I thought you said after college, you were leaving and going somewhere else?" Seth asked.

Tommy nodded his head, "Yeah, I did always say that, didn't I? Well, I never left. Last year of college I decided to quit playing baseball." Tommy said.

"Why? From the years I spent with you, baseball was your dream." Seth said, frowning. He could hear in his voice a little bit of disappointment.

Tommy shrugged his shoulders, looking behind him, to the ground, then back to Seth. "Caught myself chasing after someone even though it never worked out."

"Yeah, I understand that." Seth said, wanting to change the subject. "So where do you do now?"

"Uh, I'm an art teacher now." Tommy said.

Seth couldn't believe it - Tommy was an art teacher? Seth smirked at the thought.

"Get your hands dirty a lot?" Seth asked.

Tommy laughs, looking his right hand. There was yellow paint on his hand. He looked back to Seth, hiding his hand in his pocket. "What about you, what happened to Seth Rollins after he dropped out only a year of college?"

Seth realized he hadn't done that much actually. He hadn't gone to the places he wanted, he's been working at the same club since he left college. Seth hadn't even been in that many relationships. He shrugged his shoulders, "Not much really. I'm a bartender."

Tommy put his left hand on Seth's shoulder, "I'm glad."

Tommy started to feel the awkward tension between them at this point so he took his hand off Seth's shoulder. The woman behind the counter called Seth's name and said his pizza was done. He smiled at Tommy, got up and went over to the counter and grabbed his box of pizza.

"Thanks. Have a good night." Seth said.

He went over to where Tommy was putting his phone back in his pocket, stood up and put a hand on his bag.

"Why don't you eat your food with me?" Tommy wondered.

Seth was confused - As a date? He didn't want to ask just in case Tommy meant it as they could just catch up and become best friends again. But if he did mean it as a date, Seth wouldn't exactly mind. He _was _trying to move on from Roman.

"You know what? Sure." Seth agrees. If this was a date, then this was sure a way to get over Roman.

"Alright." Tommy says with a smile on his face.

* * *

Tommy and Seth had rode in Tommy's car together to his apartment, which was by a supermarket. They were talking about the times when they were in high school and college together, how they were surprised that one of them didn't reach out to the other to see what they were doing.

They got to the apartment building and went inside, Tommy was living on the second floor. The two of them went inside the apartment, which was small and didn't really look like someone was living here. A bed was by the sliding doors, a table was by the bathroom, which was next to a kitchen. On the walls were a few paintings. No pictures of him with friends or family.

Tommy went into the bathroom as Seth took off his hoodie, throwing it on Tommy's made bed, walking over to the table and put his box of pizza on the table next to Tommy's food. He stood in the middle of his apartment awkwardly, looking around.

"Is everything alright, Tommy?" Seth yelled.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute!" Tommy yelled back.

Seth nodded his head, sitting down on his bed. He ran his hands down his thighs, then took his hair out of a ponytail, messed it up and put it back in the ponytail. Seth bit his lip, looking up to the ceiling, then to the floor. This made Seth feel a little weird.

Finally, Tommy came out of the bathroom and Seth stood straight up and cleared his throat. He pointed at Tommy, who was smiling and had his hands on his hips, then looked at the door. He looked back at Tommy. He started to blush as he widened his eyes.

"You're naked." Seth said, stating the obvious. Tommy nodded his head. He couldn't believe that he was in Tommy Evans apartment and right now Tommy Evans, Seth's old best friend, was naked.

Well, at least now Seth knew if this was supposed to be a date or not.

* * *

Well... That was a pretty shocking reunion, huh?


	11. Watch Your Back

Phil shut his door, locking it behind him. He'd just come home from the gym, planning on eating lunch while laying back and catching up with some shows on TV. To him, his suspension has so far been slow. Nobody hadn't really come to visit him from work, not even Tyler or Dean.

When he got into the kitchen, he ordered a pizza from a restaurant near him, got out a bottle of water from the fridge and went into his bedroom. He sat on the bed, his back leaning against the headboard. He grabbed the remote off of his nightstand, turning on the TV. He looked through all of the channels, seeing there wasn't much on. He sighed, turning the TV off.

Deciding he would call them, Phil got out his phone from his jean pocket, finding their number and dialed Dean Ambrose's number. The phone rang two times before he answered.

"Hey." Phil said.

"Hey, Phil." Dean said finally. He seemed to be bothered by something. Dean sighed. "I'm sorry if I'm sounding upset... Just hearing your voice makes me feel a little bit better."

Phil smiled at that, but was curious as to why Dean would be upset. "Why, what happened?" He remembered that Stephanie was to have a meeting with Dean at work on Monday and here it was in the middle of the week and no word on if they had the meeting or not.

"Well, the meeting was put off because some of the files weren't finished or something... Anyway, I did have the meeting today with Stephanie." Dean informed. He was rubbing his eyes in annoyance, wishing he didn't have to tell Phil the next part. "She asked me what happened, so of course, I told her what happened. All we did was kiss, Phil... But the way she was making it sound, it was as if I was lying to protect you and that you were the one who kissed me. She's trying to say that you forced yourself onto me."

Phil shook his head, "But that isn't the truth."

"That's what I said but for some reason she won't believe me!" Dean exclaimed, running his hand through his hair. "Her mind is set on that you forced yourself on me..." He paused, "... Look, I don't want to lie and say any of that, because trust me, I wanted to kiss you."

Phil caught onto how he put the ending of that sentence, how he "didn't want to lie," which must mean he already did lie.

"What do you mean by that, Dean? Are you going to lie and say I forced myself on you?" Phil asked. He closed his eyes, leaning his head against the headboard and wished that Dean would say no. Phil heard Dean sigh. The silence on the other end gave Phil the answer he was dreading. "What'll happen if you say it?"

"Probably a few more weeks of suspension." Dean said, shrugging his shoulders, "I don't really know, Stephanie would have to figure it out... But what'll happen to us? That's what I'm most worried about right now."

Phil opened his eyes. If he was so worried about their relationship, why didn't Dean visit Phil days before? Phil shook his head. Everything seemed to keep getting more complicated. "I don't know, Dean. _We can_ work at it." They would probably have to keep it a secret, but Phil was willing to work at it. He wanted a relationship with Dean and if it meant hiding it, he would do it.

Dean thought about it. The two of them weren't that serious yet, "Maybe we shouldn't... You know, just go our own ways." Dean said, pausing. He felt bad. "I'm sorry, Phil."

Phil scoffed, surprised by Dean's decision, he for sure thought that Dean would at least want to want to work at it. He ran his hand over his head.

Phil didn't say anything more, he hung up and thew his phone on his bed, sighing. He was angry. Grabbing the remote again, he turned the TV back on and hoped to find something on the TV to take his mind off of Dean. He ended up going On Demand, watching the first episode of Spartacus. There was a knock at the door. The pizza was here and Phil didn't even feel like eating now.

* * *

Tyler looked both ways before walking into Stephanie McMahon's doorway to her office, the door wide opened, she was writing down something on a piece of paper. She hadn't noticed him yet and he could just walk away, forgetting what he had wanted to talk to her about... But instead, Tyler found himself knocking on the door. She looked up, smiling.

"Please, come in, Mr. Black." Stephanie said, motioning with one of her hands for him to come in. It was rare for him to visit him in her office.

Tyler walked into her office, closing the door, smiling at her. He went to sit down in one of the chairs, putting a leg over his other, getting comfortable.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Black? Surely you have a reason to randomly pop into my office." Stephanie said.

Tyler watched as she put the paper in a red folder, then put it in her a drawer, closing it, then looked back at him. She folded her hands, smiling at him, her full attention on him. Tyler nodded his head.

"I want to talk to you about Phil's suspension." Tyler announced.

Stephanie gives him a look that means he wasn't supposed to know about that. "How do you know about that? I made sure everyone thought he was on vacation."

Tyler raised his eyebrows. Everyone did believe he was on vacation, although Stephanie doesn't know Phil told him and Brie at the picnic. "Look, Phil is my friend. You shouldn't have suspended him."

"Mr. Black, this has nothing to do with you whatsoever - It's between Mr. Brooks and the business, let's keep it that way." Stephanie says.

Tyler shakes his head, "I understand that completely, but he's a hardworking guy."

"I know Mr. Black, Phillip has been one our best employees since he got here four years ago." Stephanie agrees, "But, even if they are the most hardest working in this company, we have to suspend those who break the rules. We won't just let it slide because he's hard working and well liked - Rules are rules."

"What did he do so wrong?" Tyler asked, playing with his watch. Stephanie opened her mouth, but Tyler spoke before she could, "Say something wrong about the company? Was caught taking something from the company? Adding fifteen more minutes to his lunch break because he couldn't find the right album he wanted at the music store?" He pretended to not know the reason, "I know he kissed Dean Ambrose. It wasn't on work grounds and it was in private. What's the problem with that? Corey Graves is gay, so why are you treating Phil differently?"

Stephanie just sat there for a few minutes, stunned. Tyler must've already thought out this argument. "Why does this bother you so much, Mr. Black?" Stephanie asks.

Tyler took his leg off the other and leaned closer to Stephanie's desk. "Like I said, Phil is my friend. I only wish to the best for him." He whispered.

"Sometimes what friends think is good and helping the other friend, may not actually be helping them." Stephanie says. "I suggest you get back to work now."

Tyler stood up, walking away, putting his hand on the doorknob when Stephanie said his name. He turned around and she was sitting there.

"If you ever try what you just did with me again, I'll make sure to re-look at that promotion that we're considering giving you." Stephanie says, "Your just an employee, I'm your boss. Don't forget who your messing with."

Tyler just nodded his head, turning the doorknob and leaving the office. He went down the stairs, now regretting he did that. It had gone differently than he expected and now his promotion, maybe his job, could be on the line.

* * *

After getting done with the pizza, Phil layed back on his bed, full. He was watching another episode of Spartacus. _Dang, this is addictive_, he thought. It had started to get late and during the sixth episode, Phil's phone started to ring. He paused the episode, seeing who was calling. The phone number had Chicago's area code and he answered quickly.

"Hello?" Phil spoke into the phone. He could hear someone on the other end, he was a little freaked out. "Whoever is on the other end, I can hear you. Stop freaking the shit out of me."

He could hear laughing on the other end, then a familiar voice. "Sorry, you little punk." Once he heard who it was Phil smiled and laughed. Yeah, that was Jarrod Smith and his jokes.

"What are you doing calling me, Jarrod? It's been four years." Phil said, suddenly serious. "We didn't exactly leave things well between us."

"Andrea gave me your new phone number. It took a lot to persuade her... Aka, my tickets to the Cubs baseball game." Jarrod confessed, "She's going out with Derek now, did you know that?"

Phil nodded his head, "Yeah, for two years. They're getting married in December."

"Glad you know about that." Jarrod said, "So, what are you up to nowadays?"

"Not that much." Phil said, sighing. He didn't understand why now all of a sudden Jarrod wanted to call and see what was up with him. "Why are you calling, Jarrod? Tell me, don't assume that I don't know there is something going on with you."

Jarrod sighed. "It's sad you think that way, Phil. I was just calling you because I missed you."

Phil rolled his eyes. He didn't believe him. "Just get it over with Jarrod, are you in trouble? Need cash?"

"Neither." Jarrod said, "I'm doing fine, actually. I was hoping you could come back to Chicago for a little while."

Phil got off his bed, walked over to his bedroom window and moved the curtain a little, looking outside. He saw his a neighbor of his walking out with his girlfriend, laughing and smiling. It was getting dark outside.

"Why do I need to come back to Chicago?" Phil asked.

He walked back to his bed, sitting up and put his blanket on. He looked at the TV, which had gone back to his On Demand menu.

"Everybody wants to see you - The whole gang. Even me." Jarrod clarified, "_Especially me_."

"I've spoken to the whole gang, Jarrod. They're doing their own thing and I'm doing my own thing." Phil said. "Last time I checked, Amy and Mark moved away."

"Fine," Jarrod said, "I want you to come back to Chicago. Can't you find a week or two in your schedule and visit me? It's been four years, man."

_I know_, Phil thought, _and I don't want to come back_. It's not like he was going to work for the next week or however longer since Dean would lie and he did want to see Andrea and Derek, even some more of his old friends. Even seeing Jarrod seemed nice. Okay, now he was convinced.

"_Fine_," Phil said through gritted teeth. "I'll come back to Chicago to see everyone. I'll start packing tomorrow and be there in about a day or two."

"Thanks, Phil." Jarrod said. "I really appreciate it."

_Of course you do_, Phil thought. "Okay, goodnight. Bye."

Phil hung up the phone and placed it on the nightstand, laying down and grabbing the remote, getting back to watching the ending of the Spartacus episode.

But, he found himself smiling. It did sound good to getaway from Delaware and all this craziness for a little while, to see some old friends and get to catch up. He hasn't seen them since he left Chicago, only speaking on the phone from time to time. Maybe Jarrod calling for him to visit Chicago wasn't such a bad idea after all.

* * *

Brie walked into the bedroom, "So I just got off the phone with Nikki and she said that she really wants to have dinner with us tomorrow. She mentioned that's she even going out with someone new." She said, sitting on the bed, putting her phone on the nightstand. She got comfortable by putting on the blankets, looking at Tyler. He was laying down, looking up to the ceiling, an arm under his head. He looked to be in deep thought about something. She hit him on his left arm playfully and he looked at her.

"Yeah?"

"Did you hear me? Nikki wants to have dinner with us and she wants to bring her new boyfriend." Brie repeated.

"Oh, yeah. That's fine." Tyler said, nodding his head.

"Are you okay?" Brie wonders.

Tyler wonders if he should not tell her, but it just came out of his mouth. "I think I might have fucked things up." He confessed.

Brie looks surprised. "How?" She wasn't exactly sure what he was talking about.

Tyler shrugged his shoulders, wanting to spare her the details, but he had to now. "I kind of went to Stephanie today and asked her to in a way, lift Phil's suspension considering that Corey Graves has never been treated differently for being gay."

Brie bit her lip, processing this. She didn't know how to react. "What did she say?"

"Just told me to go back to work." Tyler lied.

Brie nodded her head, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, anything." Tyler said.

"Have you ever had feelings for Phil that weren't just friendly?" Brie asked.

* * *

Hope everyone liked the new chapter, please let me know with a comment. Also, please let me know if you see any mistakes and I will fix the ASAP! Thank you for reading.


	12. It's Nice to Have Friends

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. The only thing I own about this is the story idea and the original characters.

Warning: Some violence may appear in this chapter.

* * *

"You're naked." Seth repeated.

He was still in shock that his old best friend, Tommy Evans, was naked in front of him. Seth wouldn't lie and say he hadn't thought of Tommy naked before, because he had. Now this was reality and he didn't know what to do.

"Yes, I am." Tommy said, chuckling. He continued to stand there, his smile now leaving his face.

"Is this what you had in mind when you asked me to come home with you?" Seth asked, "I thought you dating that one girl from college, Harper? You never said you were gay."

Tommy nodded his head. "I did, but I hid it. When you play in a sports, you have to hide it or lose it all." He explained, looking down. Now this was starting to get awkward for both of them. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking towards the door, biting his lip. Seth never looked it like that before Tommy explained it that way. "You know, if this made you uncomfortable, I can just go put on some clothes, you can leave and we don't have to speak again for a long time." Tommy uncrossed his arms and turned around, walking back to the bathroom.

Seth thought about it, biting his lip. He did want Tommy and it wasn't like he was seeing anyone, he was single... So what was the problem? _Roman_. He had to get over him sooner or later, Roman basically ditched him in the middle of their relationship.

Making up his mind, Seth took a deep breath. "Tommy." He spoke in a light voice, putting all the feelings for Roman aside.

Tommy turned around, eyebrows raised, "Yeah?"

Seth walked up to Tommy, standing in front of him. They were so close they could feel each other breathing. Tommy looked into Seth's eyes. Seth kissed him, Tommy going to take off Seth's shirt.

* * *

Roman stood up from the couch, putting on his pair of boxers that were on the ground and then put his baggy t-shirt that was on the arm of the couch. Corey just laid there on his stomach as he watched Roman get dressed. There was silence all through the house, which Roman hated sometimes.

He walked into the kitchen, grabbing his phone from off the table and checking it to see if anyone had tried to contact him. There weren't any calls but there was a text from Sasha, asking when they could talk again, it seemed like forever since they last spoken. It had been forever since he'd last seen any of his friends. He'd seen Jimmy and Naomi and Jey, but that was it. He missed his friends, going out, even the club.

"You alright?" Corey asks.

Roman looked over his shoulder to see Corey wearing a pair of boxers, coming into the kitchen and going into the fridge.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Roman lied. "Just a little tired."

Corey walked over to Roman with a water bottle in his hand and pointed to the phone in Roman's hand, looking curious. "Got any calls or text?"

Roman sighed. He nodded his head, "Just one by Sasha. She wants to know when we can hang out next."

"And what were you going to say?"

Roman shrugged his shoulders, scoffing, then looked down to the phone, putting it back on the table and looked at Corey. "I didn't say anything yet," He said, walking past him to the fridge, opening it. "I was going to probably say to her that I couldn't hang out for a while because I'm looking for a new job. That's it."

Corey nodded his head. "Hey, have you spoke to Seth?"

Roman froze, then slowly grabbed a water bottle and closed the fridge. He drank some water, knowing that this was a trick question. Seth called him, but he never actually spoke to him. Swallowing the water and putting the lid back on the bottle, Roman shook his head. "No, why would you ask about that?"

Corey walked up to Roman, who started to back up. He hit his back on the fridge's handle, him wincing in pain. Roman had a bruise on his back that he got a week back and the pain was still there. Corey smiled, standing in front of him. He trapped Roman by putting his hands on the fridge, looking Roman into the eyes. He looked angry and Roman looked scared. "I've got a reason to be curious, don't I? Let's be honest, it's not like you weren't with him when you decided to get back with me. You've said his name during sex, too. Don't think I'm stupid and haven't noticed. Also, you stopped to think before you said anything. Now, be honest, have you spoken to him?"

Roman just shook his head. He knew that Corey wasn't believing him, he almost never did. "I haven't spoken to him since that stupid company picnic when I was trying to talk to him but he was ignoring me." Roman confessed. "There, now you know. Happy?"

Corey removed his arms from the fridge, leaning back against the sink, looking at Roman up and down. His silence was starting to scare Roman because he hadn't gotten smart with Corey before and he was worried about what he was going to do. Maybe Corey would just let it slide.

"Actually, I am glad you told me the truth, but that's all you needed to say." Corey says, "Are you stupid?" His voice had a little tone of anger in it, but he laughed. "That wasn't Seth, that was Tyler. I would know, I work with him."

Roman shook his head, "No, I'm pretty positive that that was Seth. I had a relationship with him, worked with him, I couldn't forget what he looked like overnight."

Corey scoffed, "That guy was Tyler Black and I've been working with him, too. He's in a relationship with Brie, how could he be like Seth in any way?" He looked at him with his eyebrows raised, waiting for an answer but Roman didn't have one.

"I - I don't know." He stuttered, feeling embarrassed. _He just looked so much like Seth,_ he wanted to say."How could that Tyler guy look exactly like Seth, then? There's got to be a reason."

Corey shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head. He had no idea either, this was actually a mystery. "Maybe they are twins and were placed up for adoption. It's happened before."

He doubted that, but stranger things have happened before, he would know because Naomi once forced him to watch the ID channel with her for a full weekend. "You know, Seth's probably forgotten about me, moved on already. Just like how I did with him." Roman says, his voice shaken. No, he hadn't forgotten about Seth and he didn't want to. Seth was in some sort of weird way, the best relationship that Roman was ever in. They both generally cared for each other and didn't want to see each other hurt.

Corey nodded his head, smiling. "You're right, he probably has. You're not that hard to get over." Corey agreed, then put his hand on Roman's shoulder, "Glad we had this little chat." He said, now patting Roman's cheek. He left the kitchen. Roman stayed in the kitchen for a few more minutes, having a sinking feeling in his stomach. He sniffled, trying not to cry.

* * *

It was 7:00 in the morning, the sun was rising, the air was cool. Seth had snuck away from Tommy's bed and went out onto the balcony, wearing only his boxers, to smoke a cigarette. His messy hair was put into a ponytail. He yawned. The good thing about it being so early was there wasn't that many people out and no one could see Seth in just his boxers.

Thinking, Seth smiled. He was moving on and it kind of felt good. He looked to his right to see a few cars drive by. He took a drag of his cigarette, looking down to the ground, letting the smoke leave his mouth. He zoned out, not really thinking of anything.

There were footsteps behind him, he closed his eyes and took another drag of the cigarette, throwing it over the balcony, letting the smoke go. He opened his eyes, turning around and smiled at Tommy, who was only in his boxers too, his hair messy and looked like he was still asleep a little. He rubbed one of his eyes, yawning.

"Forgot you smoked." Tommy said. He grinned.

Seth smirked, "I forget - Didn't you smoke once, too?" He asked, chuckling.

Tommy shook his head, coming out onto the balcony, sitting in the green chair next to the sliding door on the left.

Seth walked up to Tommy, knees touching knees. Seth moved his fingers lightly and slowly against Tommy's arm. He could feel the people that were out at this time from the other apartment building in front of Tommy's staring at them.

"I think people are staring." Seth whispered.

Tommy shrugged his shoulders, looking up to Seth. "Why should they care? It's not like we're doing anything wrong."

Seth smiled for a second, then bit his lip. "So... What are now? Considering we went over the 'just friends' line last night."

Tommy laughed as Seth did quotation marks with his fingers as he said 'just friends' and licked his lips. "I don't know, how do you feel? I'd like to be more."

"Me too." Seth nodded in agreement. Tommy could see something was bothering him.

"Is something bothering you?" He asked.

"Just... This guy I was with... He and I were sort of together for two years but it really wasn't anything but fighting and sex. He left the relationship to go back with his ex, though." Seth explained, looking to the road again, then back to Tommy, who gave Seth a sympathetic look.

Tommy touched Seth's arm, "He is stupid to have let you go."

Seth started blushing, bending down to give Tommy a quick kiss. He stood up and went into the apartment, Tommy following behind him, closing the sliding door.

Noticing the food on the table, Seth cussed under his breath. "Oh, shit! We forgot about the food we ordered last night." He exclaimed, pointing.

"Good thing we ordered pizza." Tommy commented.

"We should eat, I'm kind of hungry." Seth said. He walked over to the bed, bent down, picked up his shirt and put it on. Thinking about something, he said, "Hey, this is a first."

Tommy looked at him confused, "What is?"

Seth pointed at both of them, "Eating pizza for breakfast."

* * *

Sasha was cleaning a glass with her towel, then put the glass on the counter, putting the towel on her shoulder. She sighed, wishing she wasn't the only bartender here at this time. At least the bar wasn't that busy for a weekday afternoon. She saw someone sit down and she smiled.

"What can I get you today, sweetie?" Sasha asks as she looks up and freezes. _Shit_, she thought.

"Bacardi Gold please." He ordered.

Sitting in front of Sasha was Roman Reigns wearing a leather jacket, hair up in a ponytail and even though he was smiling, Roman looked tired and had bags under his grey eyes. She could tell he wasn't as happy as he was trying to look. But at the same time, she was just so happy to see Roman and wanted to hug him, but she told herself not to do it.

"Roman?" Sasha smiled, glad to finally see him after him walking out of the club with Corey Graves weeks ago. "What are you doing here?"

Roman cleared his throat, "I think it's time for me to talk to you, I can't ignore you forever, can I? You'd probably hunt me down if I did." Roman said, joking around. He shrugged his shoulders, "And I need you to give a message to Seth for me. It's important. Now - " Roman said, looking around the almost empty bar, then back to her, "Would you like to talk at my house or here? It's up to you."

* * *

Hope everyone likes the new chapter, please let me know, I'd love to know your thoughts. Thank you for reading.


	13. Hearts Under Fire

Tyler was caught off guard by that question. Was he dreaming or did Brie just ask him that? "What do you mean by that?" Tyler asked, propping himself on the right elbow, wondering where this question even came from.

"Just by how it sounds - Have you ever felt things for Phil that were more than just friendly feelings?" Brie repeated with a littler worry on her face, "Tyler, you don't have to lie to me if you have, I just want you to be honest with me."

Tyler quickly shook his head no, denying it all for Brie. With his other hand, he found Brie's that was in her lap and took her hand into his. He did wonder before why thoughts of Phil entered his mind when he was doing things with Brie, but he would keep that to himself because they couldn't be romantic feelings, right? Plus, it was Phil - He was his friend, they had seen each other in the most goofiest way and been there for the rough times. He was cocky, he was mean sometimes, and had a sense of humor that was all his own. All of this was confusing for Tyler.

"We're good, right?" Tyler asked.

Brie took a few seconds to say anything, she needed to think it over. She was looking at both of their hands, making Tyler nervous.

"Yeah, we're good." Brie reassured him, looking at him with a smile. She pulled some of her hair behind her ear.

"Now, about that dinner with Nikki - You're going to have to tell me what kinds of food she likes." Tyler said, changing the subject. He could still feel the awkwardness in the air, hoping that it wasn't awkward between them anymore.

"Okay." Brie agreed. She looked at the clock on the nightstand, then back to Tyler. "We should get to bed, early morning tomorrow."

Brie moved her hand away from Tyler's, laid down and turned around, her back facing him now. She turned the light off, resting her head comfortably on the pillow.

Tyler stayed there, biting his lip. Was she trying to push him away? He sighed, turning around and resting his head on his pillow too. He had a feeling he wouldn't sleep tonight.

It seemed like forever that they were in the silence, both feeling the awkward tension still in the air. Both could tell the other one wasn't sleeping, but wasn't going to say anything. How long would this awkwardness go on?

"Brie, you've got nothing to worry about." Tyler said, looking at the clock, seeing it was only a few minutes past midnight. He couldn't hear anything coming from Brie, he hoped she heard him. "I promise." He reassured, his voice was calming and it sounded promising. Maybe he was right.

* * *

It was later that day, after work when Tyler decided to go see Phil finally. The last time he saw him was the picnic and that was almost a week ago, he was feeling like a bad friend because he knew that Phil must be going crazy without being able to go to work.

Tyler took a deep breath, knocking on the door. He waited for Phil to answer, he looked around, seeing a woman leave her apartment, walking by him. They smiled at each other, then he went back to looking at the big 23 on Phil's apartment door.

No one answered for a few minutes and when Tyler raised his arm to knock on the door again, Phil yelled for the person at the door to come in. Tyler turned the door knob. He walked into Phil's spotless clean apartment, closing the door behind him. Yeah, Phil must've been really bored if he cleaned his apartment - It was never this clean before. Tyler saw Phil in the corner of his eye walking by with a duffel bag in his hand.

Tyler followed Phil into his bedroom, staying in the doorway while Phil was grabbing some clothes out of his drawer, walking back to his bed and putting clothes into the bag. Phil's back was facing Tyler, who was confused - Why was Phil packing? Was he leaving?

"What are you doing, Phil?" Tyler asks.

"I'm leaving." Phil whispers. He stops putting clothes into the bag, turning around to look at Tyler, a shirt in his hand. He was looking at Tyler and he could see that Phil looked tired and sad.

"What?"

"I said I was leaving!" Phil exclaimed, raising his voice.

Tyler was stunned. "Why? Where are you going?" Tyler asked. Phil couldn't leave.

"Back to Chicago, I'm going to see some old friends a few family members until my suspension is over." Phil informed, wondering when that would even be. He looked down to the floor.

"Wasn't it you the first time we met who said, for whatever reason, you wouldn't go back to Chicago again? Why have you suddenly changed your mind on that?" Tyler asked, walking into the bedroom. He shook his head, "No, you can't leave.."

Phil laughed looking all around the room, then to Tyler, eyebrows raised. "Why not?" Phil asked, pointing all around the room, then at Tyler, "What's stopping me from leaving?"

"Dean - "

Phil shook his head, "No, we broke up." Phil cut him off, rubbing an eye. "Our friendship isn't in a good place, I'm suspended from my job... Shall I go on?"

Tyler's eyes widen, he went up to hug Phil when he pushed him away. Phil wasn't acting like himself.

"I'm sorry, Phil." Tyler said, "Our friendship _can_ be fixed if you stay."

Phil sat on his bed. Tyler moved the duffel bag and sat next to him, putting his arm around Phil's neck. They didn't speak, but Phil didn't move Tyler's arm.

"You're with Brie..." Phil trailed off, "I like you, so if we all hang out together, how awkward would that be?"

Tyler thought of last night when Brie asked him how he felt towards Phil. He was right, it would be awkward for many reasons than just one.

"Phil, Brie and I are in an awkward place right now, but I need to tell you something." Tyler said. Phil looked at him and he knew that there was no stopping now, "Sometimes when I'm with Brie, I feel this weird feeling in my stomach where it makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong. I even sometimes find myself..." Tyler paused, seeing Phil looked curious. "... thinking of you when I shouldn't be." Tyler confessed. He felt like Phil would understand him, it just made him feel better telling someone.

"So, how I'm taking this is that you like me a little?" Phil asked, confused.

Tyler went to nod his head when Phil kissed him. Surprised, Tyler pushed Phil off of him and he looked a little bit scared.

"I'm sorry." Phil said.

Tyler shook his head, "It's okay?" It felt weird for Tyler to kiss another guy, but it also felt good. He kissed Phil this time, putting his hand on Phil's cheek. Tyler laid down on the bed, Phil straddling him. Their kisses became deeper, Tyler's hands slipped under Phil's shirt feeling his hot skin. Tyler felt that weird feeling in his stomach but this time, instead of it feeling like he was doing something bad, it made him feel like he was doing something right. This felt good.

A knock on the door stopped the two of them, both pulling from the kiss and looking to the doorway. Phil got up and left the room while Tyler stayed where he was, running a hand on his head, confused - Did he actually just make out with his best friend?

* * *

After taking a drive around town to clear his thoughts and think about what had happened between him and Phil, Tyler had gone back home and a car he didn't know was in his driveway. He went inside the house to hear laughing.

Tyler went into the kitchen where he saw Brie cutting up an onion, Nikki sitting down in a chair at their table and laughing, drinking some red wine. Remembering that Brie and he were supposed to have dinner with Nikki and her new boyfriend tonight, Tyler waved at Nikki.

Waving back, Nikki put her glass of wine on the table and smiled at him.

"I'm sorry, I forgot about the dinner, I was busy." Tyler said.

"It's okay, Nikki was just telling me what her and her boyfriend did on their first date." Brie said, putting the onions in a pan and washing her hands.

Tyler looked at Nikki, "So where is this boyfriend?"

"In the bathroom, he'll be out in a minute." Nikki said, putting her hair up in a ponytail.

Tyler nodded his head, sitting down next to Nikki. They watched as Brie made the dinner. Minutes later, a man came into the kitchen.

_Oh fuck_, Tyler thought.

Nikki stood up and went to stand by the man's side, smiling. "Everybody, I want you to meet Randy Orton."

* * *

Tyler stared at Randy, who was just watching the football game on TV. It was quiet in the room and they could hear the girls laughing in the kitchen. Tyler cleared his throat, sitting up in his chair and looked at Randy.

"Look, we may not have the best history, but I want you to treat Nikki well. Got it?" Tyler said.

Randy now looked at him, "We may not have the best history? You punched me." Tyler shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal. "I care for Nikki, so I'm going to treat her well."

"I know, but you cheated on your girlfriend at the time with my girlfriend and then broke up with both of them. I'm dating Nikki's sister, so I will know if you hurt Nikki and maybe you'll get punched twice a second time." Tyler said. "I may not know Nikki that well, but I know she's nice and I don't want to see her hurt."

"Yes, Mr. Bella." Randy said, "I'll treat her well, I promise."

Tyler was angry, he hated how sarcastic and cocky Randy always acted. Out of anybody, it had to be Randy Orton.

* * *

After the dinner, that went surprisingly well, Nikki was with Brie in the kitchen and talking to her while Brie cleaned some dishes and Tyler was in the living room with Randy. They didn't have such a great background, his ex-girlfriend had cheated on him with Randy.

"So it seems to be going well between the two of them." Nikki said, "I'm just glad you guys like him."

Brie put a cup in the dishwasher, "Come on Nikki, I like almost all of your boyfriends. Just not that one who you dated in high school, Josh, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. He was such a jerk." Nikki agreed, "So, how's your relationship with Tyler? We haven't talked about you since you moved out of the house. Is everything going alright? I could feel a sense of awkwardness with you guys during dinner."

Brie shrugged her shoulders, grabbing a plate and put it on the counter, sighing. She looked at Nikki, "I don't really know, to be honest. He's been acting weirdly lately and last night I kind of asked him something..."

"What was it?" Nikki asks.

Brie walked over to the table and bent down to face Nikki. "You can't tell anyone this, promise?" Nikki nods her head, then Brie puts up her pinky finger. Nikki rolls her eyes, pinky swearing. "I asked him if he had any feelings for his friend, Phil."

Nikki gasps, "No way!" Brie nods her head, "Oh my God, Brie! Do you think he does?"

Brie sits down in the next to Nikki and thinks about it. "I mean, yeah, I do a little. But I feel bad, so I'm trying to play it off like I'm not worried anymore."

Nikki puts her hand on Brie's, "Brie, if you're worried, you're worried."

"Thanks, Nicole." Brie said, smiling a little. "It's just... I don't know why, but I've got a feeling he feels something for Phil."

"Hey, it's alright. I don't think Tyler has feelings for this guy, he has you." Nikki says, Brie chuckling. "And if it doesn't work out, just sleep with someone he's friends with or I can hurt him for you." Brie smiled.

"Thanks, that's helped me a little."

"Hey, what are sisters for?" Nikki joked, both of them laughing.

* * *

Sorry for the late upload, my beta has had some personal problems.. then got lazy. Let me know what you think of the new chapter. Thank you for reading.


	14. I Miss You

Sasha had decided to talk to Roman at his house, feeling that it would be more private. She took her lunch break, Roman even offered to buy her lunch or make her something, but she denied. After an awkward, quiet drive to Roman's house, Sasha had to admit that his new house looked nice. When she was inside the house, she was more amazed.

Roman went into the kitchen, Sasha following him. He got out two cups and filled them with water as Sasha sat in one of the chairs, looking out the window. She wasn't trying to worry so much about what Roman had to talk to her about - It couldn't be that bad, right?

He put the glasses down on the table, which made her look to see him putting one in front of her and one where he was now sitting. Sasha quickly gulped down half of the water. Roman just sat there, staring at her, not touching his water. He cleared his throat, giving Sasha a weak smile. It hurt her to see how upset he was and was still trying to pull off that he was actually happy.

"What are we going to talk about?" Sasha wonders. It was almost like they didn't know how to speak to one another anymore. "It's been awhile since we last saw one another."

Roman looks down, then up at her again, nervously chuckling. "You know ever since I had taken you in back a few years ago, I'd thought of you as a little sister..." He trailed off, Sasha slowly nodding her head, worried where this was going, "... I haven't talked to much of anybody in my life since I got back with Corey..." That was the first time she'd heard that they were back together - Seth didn't tell her, assuming he knew. She was being real quiet. "... And when I have, they've always asked me why." He said, taking a deep breath.

"You don't have to tell me anything if it's hard for you, Roman." Sasha says, "I understand if it's too personal."

"He asked me to come back," Roman confessed, "I was going to say no, I was with Seth and getting to a good place where we were both happy, but the way he looked at me... I just couldn't say it. Next thing I know, we're living together and I'm looking for a new job so his business friends don't look at me weirdly when they found out I was a stripper."

Sasha couldn't help herself, "Why can't you just end it with him?"

Roman shook his head, "You don't get it, no one does - "

"What don't we get?" Sasha cut him off.

Roman took a few minutes before speaking. He looked like he was trying to find the right words to say, then he took off his jacket, placing it on the other chair. He then looked Sasha in the eyes, "This is what I feel like I deserve. I hurt Seth for the past two years," Roman admitted, his voice low, looking down to the table, deciding he couldn't look at Sasha. He shrugged his shoulders, closing his eyes, replaying some stuff Corey had said to him before. He opened his eyes and looked up at her. "I mean, I played football in college and was going to go somewhere, but I gave it up for what? I'm now an unemployed man who used to work at a strip club! What am I really doing with my life? My cousin just got engaged while I was too scared to get into a relationship in fear of someone hurting me. How screwed up am I to believe that I actually deserve that?" Roman continued, his voice starting to crack. Sasha found his hand and put her hand on top of his, she didn't know what to say. Both of them couldn't believe this was coming out of his mouth right now - He'd felt this way for a long time now, but to actually say something about it - iy was frightening, but liberating.

Roman quickly excused himself, getting up and leaving the kitchen. Sasha's jaw dropped, putting hands to cover her mouth, shocked at all that Roman had just said. A door upstairs slammed and she jumped at the sound.

While Roman was upstairs, Sasha took a few sips of the water, came up with something to say to Roman when he came back down. She put her hair up in a ponytail when she heard a phone ringing so she checked her phone to see no new messages or missed calls. She put the phone back and tried to sit still, waiting for him to come back.

A few minutes later, Roman came down the stairs. He appeared in the kitchen again - His eyes were puffy and red, a piece of paper that looked folded in his hand. Roman stood in front of Sasha, she was a little confused.

Roman extended his arm, handing the paper to her. She took it, seeing the paper read Seth's name on it. "Can you give that to Seth for me?" Roman asked, "A restaurant I applied to called me back and I need to be there in fifteen minutes."

Sasha nods her head, standing up and looking him up and down. The next thing Roman knew, he was being pulled into a hug, hearing Sasha whisper to him, "I hope you're okay, Roman. I'd hate to see anything happen to you." She pulled away, kissing him on the check, then left the room leaving Roman standing there unable move.

* * *

Seth went into the club later that day happy, excited for tonight when he would be Tommy next. They had decided to try out being relationship, which was good. Seth was finally moving on.

He walked behind the bar, waiting for someone to order something. He cleaned a few of the cups, then went to move around some of the drinks before someone finally ordered a beer. He opened the beer, handing it to the customer, who didn't even thank him.

The club wasn't all that busy, but some people were there sitting by the stage. One of the people that were already served asked Seth where Sasha was, leaving Seth to wonder that as well. He noticed that the other bartender, Alex, was taking care of another customer but Sasha wasn't here. They all had the same shift this week.

A short time after that, Sasha came out from Mr. McMahon's office, rolling her eyes as the boss was saying something to her. He was behind her and looked angry. Sasha said something, then walked away and went over to the bar. She put a towel on her shoulder, immediately taking an order for a customer.

She sighed as she got the scotch ready, then handed it to them, smiling at them. Seth walked over to her, she jumped, surprised to see Seth.

"Why were you talking to Mr. McMahon, what happened?" Seth wonders.

Sasha waves it off, "Oh, ended up taking twenty more minutes on my lunch break than I should've. Now I don't have one tomorrow."

Seth smirked, "Date with Shay go longer than expected?" He asked, winking.

Sasha gasps, hitting him on his arm, "No!" She exclaimed, "I... Talked to Roman today." She informed looking at him sheepishly and Seth froze.

"What did he say?"

Instead of saying anything, Sasha went into her shorts pocket, getting out the folded piece of paper. She handed it to him.

When he saw the paper that had his name on it, Seth took a deep breath, preparing himself for what might be written in it. It could say anything. Seth unfolded the paper, then read what was written in perfect French:

_I dream of you. _

_Roman. _

_P.S., I miss you._

Seth smiled, but then said, "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

Sasha grabbed the paper, reading what it said, then gave it back to him. She shrugged her shoulders, "What does it say? It looks like it's written in French or something."

"It is." Seth replies, "One of the first times Roman and I met, I was trying to learn French for an upcoming trip and he offered to teach me. So from then on, we'd speak French every once in a while.. Usually if we were happy." He explained, "But... The letter had mentioned his pick up line he used on me." Seth went on, shocked that Roman could even remember what that. The letter never said how he was, just a line of memories between the two of them and how he missed him. The letter felt important to Seth, who was still oddly smiling. "It even said he missed me."

_What a time to give me this letter_, Seth thought, _just when I happen to move on_...

* * *

Seth and Tommy were waiting outside the movie theatre, it was freezing outside again. Seth was smoking a cigarette while Tommy stood there with him, looking around to see other people going inside the theatre or paying for tickets.

"You look like something is bothering you, is everything okay?" Tommy asks.

Seth shakes his head _no_, looking at the cigarette in his hand. He didn't want to mention the letter to Tommy, it would have to be such a long story, but if he didn't tell him, he would be keeping something from him and that wasn't such a good way to start this relationship.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Seth lied, putting the cigarette up to his lips, taking a long drag of the cigarette before throwing it to the ground, stepping on it. The smoke left his mouth, "Just had some rude customers at the bar today. Other than that, I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm good," Tommy says with a smile, "Surprisingly all of my students have finished their art project that I gave them a week ago."

"Wow." Seth said, "That's great."

Tommy nodded his head, looking back to the theatre, "Ready to go watch Paranoia? The tickets says the movie might be starting in a few minutes."

"Yeah, let's go." Seth said. He walked with Tommy to the movie theatre, getting their snacks and drinks. He was going to try to not think of the letter Roman sent.

* * *

Roman nodded his head as he wrote the location down. "Okay, I got it. Thanks, Jimmy." He says, hanging up, putting the home phone back. Walking into the living room where Corey was drinking a beer, relaxing on the couch as he watched the football game. He sat down next to him, placing the paper on the coffee table.

"What did Jimmy have to say?" Corey asks.

Roman shrugs his shoulders, watching as a guy scores a touchdown on the TV. "Just the wedding. Naomi and Jimmy want to have it in about a month or two."

Corey looks at him, confused. He takes a swig of the beer, finishing it. "Why are they rushing it?" He sits up, putting the bottle on the coffee table and moves his body to face Roman.

"I don't know, they just said they don't want to wait any longer." Roman says, "You have to ask them."

"Is she pregnant?" Corey wonders as a chuckle escapes him.

Roman's eyes widen, looking back to the TV, then back to Corey. He shook his head, "Again, I don't know. I haven't seen her in about a month and Jimmy didn't say anything about it. Why does it matter?"

Corey didn't answer, his joking mood vanishing. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders and went back to watching the game. Roman sighed. He was excited for the wedding, he told himself. Being one of the best men, leaving Delaware for a little while, it should be fun. He'll even get to see some people he hasn't seen in a while - His family, friends. It all sounded great, but why wasn't he excited for it?

When the game was over and both were going upstairs, Corey stopped on one of the stairs, turning around and looked at Roman. "Does this mean your going to the wedding?"

Roman scoffed, "Of course, I kinda have to." He says, "I'm one of the best men."

"Why didn't I know anything about it?" Corey asks.

Roman grabbed on the railing, moving closer to it. He was hoping that Corey didn't get angry because he didn't tell him about being apart of the wedding. "I just... I agreed to it because he's family." He sighed, "Family is important." He explained.

"I know," Corey says after a few seconds, "And that's one thing I like about your family." He turns back around, walking up the stairs. Roman let out a sigh of relief, following him upstairs.

They went into the bedroom, Corey taking off his shirt as Roman just watched. Noticing that he was just standing there, staring.

"What's going on, Roman? You're acting a little weird." Corey says.

"I'm going to go take a shower, okay? Tomorrow I've got an early shift at the restaurant." Roman says.

Corey nods his head, Roman leaving the room. He went into the bathroom, starting the water, taking his shirt off when he heard his name called. He sighed. Roman went back into the bedroom to see Corey just in his boxers, getting comfortable on the bed.

"Where's the wedding going to be anyway?" He wonders.

"Jimmy says they're going to have it in Florida, Naomi's parents own a house down by the beach there." Roman explains, "They really want to have it at the beach, but considering the weather, they might have it inside."

"That seems interesting." Corey says, "Can I come?"

Roman stood there, expecting him to ask that. He wanted to say no, that he wanted to go to Florida alone, but he found himself saying, "I already thought you would, but yeah, you can come."

Roman left the room, walking back into the bathroom, closing the door. He undressed himself, getting into the shower. He ignored the pain that the scorching water gave him when it hit his shoulder, which had a bruise on it. He was trying to relax and not worry about it, but he had a gut feeling that something was going to happen at the wedding - And it wasn't going to be good.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I understand that Seth and Tyler haven't met up yet, but I promise you, it will happen soon. Lately I've been having a lot of ideas for this story and I've been writing them down, so I'm a little ahead. There will be a few more chapters coming up, two are flashbacks, before they actually meet each other. Everything that will be happening from this chapter leads up to it... Please don't be angry/hate me for making you wait for them to meet up!

On another note, thank you to everyone who's read, favorited, followed and reviewed this story even though I've made you wait for the meeting. It means a lot to me. I hope you like the new chapter!

Thank you again, Lizzie.


	15. Let's Go Back to the Start

Warning: Some offensive language will appear in this chapter, along with some pretty scandalous hook ups.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than the plot and original characters.

* * *

2009

* * *

It had only been a total of five hours since arriving in Delaware that Phil had been at his apartment, unpacking his bags and trying to get comfortable before he left to see what Delaware offered in the fun department.

He had found a club on the internet before he left Chicago and he decided to check it out.

The club was busy, almost every seat was taken. He found a seat at the end of the bar. Music was playing loudly, people were dancing, the lights were going to give him a headache by the end of the night. Phil felt bad for all of the bartenders working tonight.

Sitting down, looking around the club, it looked like the club was full of people. The man next to him was staring at him, making Phil feel uncomfortable. He tried to shrug it off, but it was bothering him that man wouldn't stop staring. Phil had to admit, the guy was pretty good looking.

"Hello," The mystery guy said, smiling at him.

"Hi," Phil says.

Phil smiled back at this guy, who pointed to his own half-drunken glass of scotch, then tilted his head to the side, eyeing Phil up and down. "Would you like a drink?" He asked, raising his arm in the air, waving a bartender over when Phil tried to protest, saying it was fine.

Then appeared the bartender, looking at both Phil and this man. "Why can I get you guys?" He asked.

"I'll have a Pepsi please." Phil orders, sighing. He watched as the bartender walked away, coming back only minutes later. Taking the soda, Phil thanked the man, turning his attention to this guy who just bought him a drink. "Thank you...?"

"Hunter." He said, extending his hand.

"Hunter." Phil repeated, muttering under his breath. That sure was different.

Phil shook Hunter's hand, politely smiling at one another. The song being played ended, switching to something that sounded like hip hop.

"I'm Phil," He said, clearing his throat. "But a few of my friends use to call me Punk."

Phil let go of Hunter's hand, holding his glass, putting it to his lips and gulping his Pepsi down. Hunter leaned in closer to Phil.

"Can I ask you why you didn't get anything stronger than a soda?" Hunter wondered.

Phil looked at Hunter seriously. "I'm Straight Edge - It means I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs."

Hunter nods his head, processing this. He back away from Phil, "That's really interesting."

Phil chuckled, looking down, then downed the rest of his soda. The bartender, who after being called they learned was Dylan, came over and took Phil's glass. He ordered a water. He got his drink, then opened his mouth to say something, "You know, at least you find it interesting. That's something I like about you, because my ex didn't like it."

Hunter looked interested. "Care to share?" He asks, "Is that why you look a little down tonight?"

No, Phil did care about sharing his personal relationships with Hunter, he was just a stranger that he just met at some club in a place that Phil hasn't even been living in for a day yet. Phil hesitated to tell Hunter.

"Yeah," Phil confessed, "We dated since college. I got this new job here in Delaware and we planned to just get away from Chicago - Start all over, you know? He was all for it and then one day out of the blue, he wants to stay and tells me I should just go to Delaware alone. Of course, we fought, he called me some offensive things, and I just decided to leave." Phil admitted, slapped himself mentally for telling Hunter that stuff about him and Jarrod. He couldn't forget what Jarrod had yelled at him - _Just go to Delaware without me, you little faggot! _

Phil was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a tight grip on his shoulder and saw it was Hunter. "I understand, I'm going through a divorce." Hunter confessed.

Whoa. Phil was shocked, doubting it, then looked to Hunter's ring finger and saw no ring. Maybe he wasn't lying, "Really?"

"Yes, we decided it's what's best for us." He replied.

"I'm sorry." Phil said.

Hunter waves it off, "It's alright, we've been fighting for a while now." He says, "So, to lighten the mood a little - What do you do?"

"I'm a statistical analysis person. It's kinda boring sometimes, really." Phil explained, Hunter letting out a chuckle. "You?"

"Uh..." Hunter started, looking a bit puzzled, "I work with insurance," He lied.

_That explains the suit_, Phil thought. He drank some of his water, Hunter still staring at him. This time it didn't creep Phil out.

"I have to use the bathroom, will you excuse me?" Hunter asked, winking at Phil.

Hunter got up from his bar stool, leaving Phil alone. Phil was wondering why he winked at him before he left... _Oh._ He got it now.

Phil got up from the bar stool, left the bar area and went into the the bathroom as well. He saw Hunter in there, zipping his pants up. Turning around to see Phil, Hunter gave him a coy smile.

Taking a risk, Phil took a deep breath and walked up to Hunter, kissing him. They backed up and moved into a stall. Phil broke away from the kiss to lock the bathroom stall so no one would catch them. Then he went back to kissing Hunter.

* * *

Phil had butterflies as he knocked on his new boss, Stephanie McMahon, door. Her light and soft voice told him come in. When he opened the door, he smiled and walked in. She already seemed to be nice.

Looking at the other person in the office, Phil's smile fell and he froze. _Hunter_.

Standing behind the chair, a haunting look came across Phil's face as he saw Hunter. Stephanie stood up, noticed and looked at the two of them, pointing. "Have you two met before?"

Phil shook his head, smiling again and trying to return to his normal self.

"I'm the new employee from Chicago, Phillip Brooks." Phil says.

Stephanie nods, "I was expecting you tomorrow, but I'm so glad that you are here today! I'm Stephanie McMahon, your boss. This here is my husband, Paul."

He moved from behind the chair and shook her hand, shaking Hunter's next. He had a ring on his ring finger today. Phil scoffed as he sat down in the shockingly comfortable chair and faced them. Stephanie picks up two folders off her desk, "I'm sorry but I'm due in a meeting right now so Paul will show you to your office. Welcome aboard, Mr. Brooks! I look forward to getting to know you better and working alongside of you."

"Me too, Mrs. McMahon." Phil agrees.

Stephanie left her office, keeping the door open for them. Phil stood up, rolling his eyes. He didn't want to be shown his office with Paul, not after he lied to him last night.

"Ready?" Paul asks.

Phil nods his head, leaving the office together. Turning the lights off in the office, Paul closes the door and catches up with Phil. They turned on the right, walking in silence.

"You fucking lied to me!" Phil whispers, "For starters, you're name isn't even Hunter and you're still married!"

"I can explain - She wants to try to fix the marriage and I agreed to it." Paul explained, "I love her and our beautiful children."

Phil sighed, shaking his head. He felt even more guilty now, Hunter - Paul - wasn't only married, but he had_ children. _How much more worse could this get?

Phil didn't say anything as they both walked by some workers, Paul smiling at them, then turning his attention back to Phil. "And to think I believed you..." Phil says finally, "You're my boss's husband for crying out loud! If she finds out, I'll be on the first plane back to Chicago before I could even start explaining anything." He continues, worrying that it may happen one day. Maybe she would just suspend him, but that would still look bad for his reputation in this career.

_Just my luck_, Phil thought.

Paul stops in front of an office that read the name _Tyler Black_ and gave Phil a look he couldn't quite read - Could it be a look of sympathy?

"Look, I'll talk about it with you at a different time when no one can hear us, okay?" Paul asked and Phil nodded his head, "This is your office until next month, you'll be sharing an office with Mr. Black. All I ask is place don't fight with him. He is one of our best workers and we decided to pair you up with him so he could help you around until you get comfortable."

Paul left, leaving Phil in front of the office. He didn't look back to see where Paul was going. Closing his eyes, Phil took a deep breath and opened his eyes, opening the door. He closed the door behind him, seeing a chair at what might be Tyler's desk turned around, so he figured the guy was out for lunch or a meeting.

As he sat down at the empty desk to the right, he heard noises coming from the other desk. It scared Phil at first, then had him worried. This guy could be getting sick or something.

"Um... Are you okay, dude?" Phil asked, confused.

This Tyler guy, or whoever it was sitting there, jumped and turned around in the chair to face Phil. He gave Phil a look.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my office?" He asked.

"I'm Phillip Brooks, are you Tyler Black?" Phil asked, Tyler slowly nodding his head. Phil noticed Tyler's arms stayed rested on the chair's arms, not moving. "Then I'm your new co-worker and office partner until next month." Phil looked at Tyler, stood up a little, curious. He pointed at him, "What are you doing?"

"N - Nothing," Tyler lied, stuttering. "Just, you know, work."

Phil doubted that so he walked up to Tyler's desk, then gasped. _Oh my._ He backed up and his eyes widen, a hand covering his mouth. One of Tyler's hand was on his cock.

"I can't believe I walked in on you touching yourself!" Phil exclaimed, seeing Tyler's face turn red. "At work!" He added. "You know what? Just do your thing and I'll... Do something outside until your done. Yell for me when it's okay to come back into the office."

* * *

Later that day Tyler offered to buy Phil lunch since they met awkwardly and he was now his office partner and new co-worker. He was trying to be polite. Phil agreed to it, asking what good food places they could eat at. Tyler took him to a burger place far from their work, but he promised the burgers were going to be great.

It was still awkward between the two of them, Phil was acting weird around him since he came back into the office after Tyler said it was fine for him. Tyler promised him it wouldn't happen again.

Together they ordered and sat close to the window, watching guys on ESPN discuss the upcoming hockey season. They said the first game for the Penguins would be against the Maple Leafs. One of the guys changed the subject to the MLB playoffs.

The waitress, Jenny, who knew Tyler very well brought over their food and smiled at them, leaving. Tyler was checking her out.

"So what are you like? Other than the person who touches themselves at work, of course." Phil joked. He ate a fry, actually wondering what Tyler was like.

Tyler looked at the other customers to make sure no one heard that, then back looked to Phil and gave him an ry look.

"I'm sorry, I'm just curious as to who I'll be working with." Phil apologized, grabbing some of his fries and placed them on Tyler's plate. He gave him the puppy eyes and lip, "Please talk to me."

Tyler laughed, softening up, "Who can resist you when you give that look? Fine." He says, "I guess I'm boring kind of, my girlfriend and I just broke up."

"I'm sorry." Phil says.

Tyler shrugged it off, eating a few fries. "So where are you from?" He asks.

"Chicago."

"That's cool, will you visit some friends and family during the upcoming holidays?"

Tyler saw Phil take a long sip of his soda and change his facial expression telling him something happened before he left Chicago. He wanted to know, but he also didn't want to know. It was Phil's business.

"No," Phil said. It looked as if he had been wondering that himself and just made that decision after Tyler asked him. "I'm never going back to Chicago."

"Did something happen?" Tyler asked, "I'm sorry, kind of personal."

"It's alright." Phil said, waving it off. He already told Paul this, so what's wrong with telling another person about Jarrod? At least Tyler hasn't lied to him yet. "Just some stuff with my ex. That's all." He continued.

They ate half of their lunch in silence, listening to ESPN talk about the The Red's winning the game against Pittsburgh Pirates the night before. Some were happy they won, some wanted the Pirates to win.

"You know, a friend of mine gave me tickets to the first hockey game of the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Toronto Maple Leafs game this Thursday... Would you like to come with me? If you don't have any plans, that is." Tyler offered.

Phil thought about it, shrugging his shoulders. He didn't have any plans, he'd already unpacked his apartment, "Why not? It wouldn't hurt to make a friend here. If the Blackhawks ever have to play the Penguins, don't think just because I'm living in Delaware I'm rooting for them, I'm still going to root for the Blackhawks. Got that?"

Tyler laughed, pointing at Phil and smiled, "You - I like you."

Phil smiled at the thought. Tyler liked him. That sounded nice. This might be the start of a nice, long friendship between the two of them.

* * *

I know this chapter didn't involve that much of Tyler, but I wanted this to explain why Stephanie was treating Phil differently than Corey. This is my first time actually writing a flashback chapter and I hope you guys like it! Let me know what you think of it. Thank you to everyone who's read, favorited, followed and reviewed! It means a lot to me.


	16. Crave You

2011

* * *

Seth laughed into the phone. He was talking to one of his good friends, Jimmy Jacobs, on the phone about traveling, maybe even traveling someday together. Jimmy was currently in Japan for the second time, he was an independent wrestler and he was telling Seth all about how much fun he was having.

"You should come to Japan so you can work as a wrestler alongside me." Jimmy suggests again, "I've given you a few training sessions before and I'm going to be here for another two months."

Seth laughed again, shaking his head. He replaced the empty bottle of Bacardi Gold with a new one, placing it on the counter as he moved around the other bottles of Bacardi. He remembered those sessions - They were pretty painful, but fun at the same time.

"I told you before Jimmy, I'd suck as wrestler. You? You're a great wrestler." Seth refuses.

"Oh, please!" Jimmy exclaims, "You'd be a great wrestler!"

Seth almost dropped the half full bottle of Jack Daniels he was now moving on the ground, carefully putting it back on the shelf. "Come on Jimmy, you're going places one day. Big places, I'll just stick to being a bartender who brags about his friend being the wrestlers. That sounds good."

Both of them smiled, Jimmy knew he wouldn't try to get Seth to change his mind - He was sure he didn't want to work with him.

Seth left the bar area with a tray and went over to one of the tables in front of the stage, putting all of the dirty glasses that were still on the table and put them on the tray.

"That's a shame, Seth - We could do some great team work." Jimmy continues, "Or we could fight one another in an amazing feud. That would be great to do - Friends in real life, enemies in the ring."

"Jimmy, I don't think it'll happen. I'm sorry, you have great ideas for us working together, but I'm fine with being a bartender. Seriously." Seth says. He did want to do something with his life, but he wasn't so sure what Jimmy had in mind was the right thing - Or could it be? - but he kept thinking of his friends, the family he didn't really talk to that much back in Delaware.

"Fine, be stubborn. When you are close to thirty and want to become a wrestler, you know where to find me." Jimmy says.

Seth smiles. A door behind him shut and heard footsteps behind him. It might be his boss, who didn't like when his employees talked on the phone when they were supposed to be working.

"Look Jimmy, I've got to go, okay? Win your next match." Seth says.

"Thanks, Seth. Make sure all of your customers are happy." Jimmy said chuckling.

Seth started to blush, remembering that one time when he lost a bet and had to strip. "That was one time! Let's get over it." Seth whispered.

"Never."

Jimmy hung up and Seth put his phone back in his pocket, sighing. He missed Jimmy sometimes. He grabbed the tray, carrying it back to the bar, jumping when he saw a person who wasn't his boss standing by the bar. The guy looked about Seth's age, he had olive skin, it looked like long hair pulled back into a ponytail, and muscles. Whoever this guy was, Seth liked him. He was wearing plain gray t-shirt with a pair of jeans. He looked towards where Seth was standing, taking off his sunglasses and smiled. He pointed to the empty bottle of Bacardi on the counter.

"You don't suppose you've got another bottle of Bacardi Gold ready, do you?" He asks.

Seth smiles, "Yep, just replaced the bottle. Guess it's your lucky day." He jokes, walking over to the bar, putting the tray down and walked behind the bar, getting the bottle and a shot glass ready. He poured some, handing it over to him. "Here."

He took it, downing it, putting the glass back on the counter. Seth refilled it, "If it was my lucky day today, then I would've slept last night and not have gotten a warning from my landlord that my rent is due although I've only been living there for less than a month."

"Sorry, but sometimes landlords want it the first week of the new month, some wait until the last week. It's different for every building." Seth says, shrugging his shoulders, "My landlord basically knows when all of the apartment owners in his building get paid and waits until then to ask for money."

"That's cool."

"It can be... Sometimes."

He chuckles, then downs the other shot of Bacardi. He puts the shot glass down, pointing to it for Seth to refill it again. He shakes his head.

"Nope, no more shots. The first two are free because it's almost opening time, but after that, customers got to pay." Seth explains, "Sorry."

"I'm no customer. As of yesterday, I'm an employee." He said, "The name's Roman. Roman Reigns."

"Seth Rollins." Seth says. "Are you a bartender as well?"

Roman laughed, a big smile on his face. His eyes met Seth's eyes. "Oh, God! I'd probably end up breaking every glass if I did that. I can be very clumsy at times."

Seth laughs along with Roman, "So what do you do here? I know Mr. McMahon has been looking for bouncers. I don't know why, but he has."

"... I'm the new stripper." Roman announced.

Seth smirked, he liked the thought of seeing Roman half naked on stage almost every night. He wouldn't lie, he did think Roman was an attractive man... And if he happened to be stripping at the same shift that Seth had, he wouldn't mind that.

"That's nice." Seth said, "Did you - "

"Ah, Mr. Reigns!" Mr. McMahon exclaims, hitting Roman on the shoulder and put a tight grip on his shoulders. Seth could see Roman flinch once Mr. McMahon touch him. He stood there, smiling at the both of them. "So glad you could make it. Now, if you follow me to my office, I'll give you more information about the job..."

Mr. McMahon walked away, Roman getting up from the bar stool, and giving a quick smile at Seth. "It was nice meeting you, Seth. Hopefully we get to see more of each other." He says, walking away and following Mr. McMahon into his office. Seth watched Roman close the door.

Seth liked this Roman guy already and he hoped to know Roman more in the future. This could be the start of a nice friendship, or even more. Well, more if Roman was interested in Seth the same way Seth was into him.

* * *

"I think I may like someone..." Seth announced later that night when he was sitting on the couch with his roommate, Naomi, who were watching a marathon of Roseanne with popcorn.

Naomi turned her attention to Seth, her eyes wide. She looked happy for him, since the last relationship he had a year before didn't end so well.

"Really? Who?" Naomi wondered.

Seth shrugged his shoulders, not really knowing how to explain it to her. "He just got a job working at the club. His name's Roman Reigns." He informs, "That's it. That's all I know about him, other than his landlord is bugging him about rent."

Naomi nodded her head, eating some popcorn from the bowl in her lap. She looked at the TV in front of them, Seth waiting for her to say something about this.

"Interesting. Jimmy and Jey's cousin named Roman Reigns." She says after minutes of silence, "He's the one who introduced me and Jimmy when I was helping Roman out in his case earlier last year, actually."

Naomi was a lawyer, but she rarely talked about the cases she worked on. Seth sat there confused - Roman, the guy who introduced Jimmy and Naomi, was the same Roman he met earlier? - He was sure that would be crazy since they could've met before, but hadn't. Then Seth realized what Naomi said at the end - _Case_.

"Wait, Roman had a case? What did he do, steal money? Deal drugs?" Seth asked, grinning. He was playing around, of course. "I've always wanted a guy with some sort of wild side to him but was soft under his leather jacket." Seth joked, shrugging his shoulders.

Naomi shook her head, remaining serious through all of his jokes. "No, his family made him press charges against one of his exes." She informed.

Seth's grin fell, regretting that he was joking around a minute before. "Whoa. What happened?"

"I'm not going to tell you, that's for him to talk about if he trusts you enough. All I can say it was a 'he said, she said' kind of case." Naomi refused to tell him, she had a point though. She didn't want to tell any secrets and Seth respected that about her. "Give him time to get to know you, then maybe he'll tell you his story."

Seth was curious about why Roman had to press charges on one of his exes, but he didn't even know Roman. He had no right to know his business.

Naomi got up from the couch, walking into the kitchen. Seth sat there, looking at Roseanne fighting with someone on the TV. He felt in his pockets to find out he didn't have any cigarettes. He cussed under his breath. He got up, grabbing his sweater from the arm of the couch, putting it on, getting his keys from the coffee table.

"Where are you going? We're supposed to have a Roseanne marathon!" Naomi questioned, "If you leave, I will put on the ID channel and keep it on all night." She warned.

Seth looked up to see Naomi look a little upset, holding a water bottle. He shrugged his shoulders, "Fine, you can do that. Let's just hope there isn't any stories from here on one of the shows." He said, walking to the door, "I need cigarettes, I forgot to pick up a pack on my way home earlier and I'm completely out."

Seth left, slamming the door behind him. Naomi sighed, going back to watching TV. Tonight was supposed to be a night where they just hung out and watched a marathon of TV, but now he left and she was watching it by herself.

* * *

The sun was setting, it was a little windy out tonight. Roman was standing outside on his balcony, watching cars drive by, some cars driving into the restaurant that was on the other side of the street. His attention then went to the woman under his apartment coming outside to tell her children to stop climbing the tree and come inside for dinner. Roman smiled, finishing the rest of the water that was in his water bottle.

"... Really Roman, you should come back to France next year for Summer, I won't keep you for the full year again... I promise." His friend, Pierre, says. It brought Roman out of his thoughts. Pierre had moved to France two years ago and Roman visited him for a full year after his case was over with, just getting back from France a month ago.

Roman laughed. "I don't think that my parents would want me to go back to France again within two years. When they saw me in the airport, they couldn't stop hugging me and telling me I shouldn't leave for that long again." He explained, hearing Pierre laugh.

"Maybe a two month stay then? Carmen's been asking when you're coming back." Pierre went on.

"I just got back from there! Give me time to build money up and I'll see about visiting next Summer." Roman said, now wishing to be back in France. He loved it there.

Roman could hear Pierre tell someone, probably Carmen, in French that he was would try to visit France again. It was starting to get colder as it got darker outside, people going inside, but Roman stayed outside.

"So how's getting back to living in America?" Pierre wondered.

"Weird. I can't sleep at night, I have a craving for that French dessert that Carmen made me before I left and never told me the name of it. And I miss being able to drive to Monaco." Roman said, recapping everything. "Although I have a job and I might have met somebody I like." Roman continued, thinking of Seth, smiling and then he heard Pierre gasp.

"Who is he?"

Pierre seemed so excited for him and that made Roman really miss him. "Seth Rollins, he's a bartender at the club I work for. I don't even know if he likes boys, but I might be developing a crush on him." Roman admitted, running a hand through his hair, feeling nervous just thinking about it. "I met him today, but having a crush on him? That's what's weird. I spent a long time with Corey and I haven't been looking for a relationship since we broke up two years ago..." Roman trailed off, looking down at his bare feet. Without hearing Pierre say anything, it made Roman feel like he was just talking to himself. "I don't know... It's all confusing."

Pierre still didn't say anything, the silence driving him crazy. This was the friend that Roman's had since college and was there for him, to hear all of Roman's problems and didn't judge him. When everything in Roman's life was going crazy, Pierre invited him to France to escape it. So whenever he was silent for more than a minute, Roman knew something was up with him.

"I understand Rome, but this is you taking a first step back into relationships. That means you are letting go of what happened in the past, forgetting about Corey." Pierre said finally, "It may be just a crush, but I'm glad."

Roman gave a smile, then the smile fell. He didn't know what to say to Pierre, but he knew he didn't want to talk about Corey anymore. He looked at his watch.

"Look Pierre, I've got to go, my shift starts in twenty minutes, so I've got to get ready to leave." Roman lied, "Bye." He said in French.

"Bye." Pierre also said in French.

They both hung up, Roman walked into his apartment, not bothering to close the sliding door. He sat on the edge of his bed, rubbing his eyes, sighing. He was confused on what to do.

* * *

The next week Seth had been put on night shift, which was a pretty busy time for the club, no matter what day it was of the week.

After doing his time on stage, Roman would get dressed, then come out to the bar and Seth would always have a shot of Bacardi Gold ready for him to drink. They didn't say anything to each other, but it was their thing.

The club wasn't as busy as it been on the last night of Seth's night shift. After the last customer at the bar ordered his beer and went over to watch the person on stage, Seth got out a small book that helped in learning a different language, trying to pay attention to the book and not the person on stage.

He was trying to say the word 'guest' in French, but he kept getting it wrong. He knew it wasn't right and it kept frustrating him. It was a easy word, why couldn't he say it right? After a few more times trying, Seth was frustrated and was going to give up after one more try. He got it wrong again. Sighing, Seth threw the book down on the counter, getting himself a beer. The boss was out, so hopefully he didn't get in trouble for drinking.

"You're saying it wrong," Someone said. Seth looked up to see Roman sitting down at his usual seat, smiling at him. This was weird - Roman was engaging in a conversation with Seth right now. All week, they didn't speak. All that was between them was Bacardi Gold. Who knew trying to learn French would get Roman to start a conversation with him? "It's pronounced like 'klee-yon,' okay? It's that simple, try it." Seth looked at him weirdly, then said it slowly like Roman told him to and Roman nodded his head, "Exactly like that," Roman said. Seth put his beer down, getting a shot glass out and went over to get the bottle of Bacardi Gold when Roman shook his head, "Nah, I'm not going to drink tonight."

Seth nodded his head, wondering why. He walked back over to where Roman was sitting, putting the shot glass away and stood there with him awkwardly.

"So, you know French?" Seth wonders.

"Yeah, my friend in college was from France and taught me when we had free time. He actually moved back there two years ago," Roman confesses. He was shocked at how much information was coming out of his mouth right now, "I had some things to deal with personally, then I was off to France last year. I just got back last month."

Seth looked actually interested in this. "That's really cool. My old friend from high school and college always wanted to learn French. It's cool you got to go to France." Seth said, leaving the personal stuff out of the conversation. "One of my friend's friend invited me to Monaco and said I could either learn Italian and French. Considering the trip is in two months and French is easier to learn, I chose that."

"Monaco is very beautiful. But if you get a chance, you should drive into France or make it a separate trip. France is very nice, you should visit one day." Roman says.

"Maybe you should take me one day." Seth flirts, smiling ear to ear.

"Maybe I will, first you have to learn French so you know when they ask you things, like what you dream about, you don't mess up and say that you want to sleep with them." Roman says, laughing. He brought up a memory of one of the first times he met Carmen.

"What if I dream about you?" Seth asked. He could see Roman was blushing.

"I could teach you how to speak French." Roman offered, changing the subject.

Him changing the subject made Seth wonder if Roman was even interested in him. It may have been a little fast, them meeting last week, but he wanted to see if Roman interested. It seemed like it, but then it seemed like he wasn't - It was puzzling.

"Sure," Seth agreed, looking at the clock, "My shift should be ending in about ten minutes, you could come over to my place. Maybe you could even drive with me?"

Roman nods his head, "Sounds good." He said, very nervous. "Just let me get my stuff and we can go."

"Okay."

Roman got up from the bar stool and started to walk away. Seth was smiling, starting to blush.

Roman stopped, turning around and pointed at Seth, "How long has your hair been both blonde and brown?"

"Uh... About two months, it was something I did when I was drunk, Naomi says." Seth recalls.

"I like it, it's different. If I were you, I'd keep it, that way you always stand out in the middle of a crowd." Roman suggested.

"I'll consider it." Seth mutters, then said to Roman, "Maybe I'll think about it, but I'm busy with this whole guy teaching me French thing right now."

Roman laughed, "Okay, then. Well, your hair looks nice anyway. Good luck with that French thing," Roman says, turning around and walking away.

They were both smiling, wondering where this could go.

* * *

Back at Seth's apartment, Roman and Seth were sitting on the couch. Naomi was out tonight with Jimmy, they were seeing a movie. The TV wasn't on, silence filling the room.

Neither of them were talking about French, instead they were talking about how it was weird they didn't meet before because Jimmy and Naomi were dating. Roman explained that it was probably because he was in France.

Out of nowhere, Seth kissed Roman. It was surprising, he hadn't expected this. Roman pushing Seth off him, he looked at him. Seth saw a little bit of worry in Roman's eyes.

"I'm sorry?" Seth spoke. Did he mistaken Roman for being gay? What did he just do?

Roman shook his head, "It's alright, it's just... I haven't been in a relationship for a little while. My ex and I broke up two years ago and it was pretty bad..." Seth was wondering if this was when Roman would tell him about what happened in the case that Naomi was involved in, "So, I'm not used to this."

"It's okay," Seth says. One of his hands touch Roman's thigh. "I understand."

Roman doesn't speak. He wanted to kiss Seth back. "We should just take it slowly, just for now. Now, how about learning French?"

Seth sighed, but smiled. This quieted his thoughts to know that Roman wanted to take it slow - he didn't do anything wrong. He got the French book he brought with him from the club off of the coffee table and opened it up, hoping that he didn't have to wait long - He wanted Roman.

* * *

A week later, Roman and Seth were at Roman's apartment this time. Seth had picked up his notes with tons of French words and phrases, over the past week, Roman had taught Seth how to pronounce them.

"I don't want to do French tonight," Roman announces, sitting down next to him on the bed.

Seth looked up from the book, closing it. He looked confused. "Why not?"

"Because I was thinking about it... Why not we do something else?" Roman asked, grinning.

Seth still looked like he didn't understand Roman until Roman kissed Seth, tongue included.

_Oh_.

Seth broke away from the kissing, laughing. "Why didn't you just say so?"

"I was trying to without being to obvious." Roman said.

They went back to kissing. Both of them were hoping that this wasn't just a one time thing, that this could turn out to be a relationship, but there was no way to tell what the future held.

* * *

So... There you have it! That's how Phil met Tyler, Seth met Roman. This is the last of flashbacks, now we are moving onto what's in store for Tyler and Brie, while Phil is facing his past in Chicago next! There will be a couple of more chapters, but after that, Tyler and Seth meet for the first time! I can promise that it will be pretty shocking... And long.

Thank you to everyone who's read, favorited, followed, and reviewed. I hope you like this chapter! Thank you for reading.

Thanks again,

Lizzie.


	17. Do You Mean It?

Tyler put his pen down, rubbing his forehead, already tired of this meeting he was in right now. Mrs. McMahon had excused herself from the meeting to handle something outside.

Falling asleep while waiting for her to come back, Tyler started to dream about this guy who oddly looked a lot like him - Same face, same body. The only difference of them two was the hair. The guy in his dream had long hair, one side blonde, the other brown. He only remembered seeing this hair once before, when he was at the movies with Brie - And it was like he watching, not able to be seen, this person who looked just like kissing someone.

At first the person who he was kissing looked unfamiliar then when they pulled away from the kiss, he looked at the face more closely. Tyler could see his look-a-like was kissing _Phil_.

"What the fuck?" Tyler said out loud but no one heard him.

Tyler saw himself, just with a weird hairstyle, go back to kissing Phil once both of them knew no one was in the apartment with them. Tyler looked away for a split second, then when he looked back, he saw the look-a-like take Phil's shirt off.

Feeling someone shake him, Tyler opened his eyes, seeing Dean Ambrose standing over top of him. He looked concerned.

"Tyler, go get something to wake you up before Mrs. McMahon gets back here." Dean says.

Yawning, Tyler lifts his head only to notice everyone was now looking at Tyler and Dean. He looked at Dean weirdly, noticing a little bit of what Phil could've been attracted to in Dean. Tyler gave him a small smile and nods his head, "Thanks Dean. How long was I out for anyway?" He wonders.

Sitting down, Dean thought about it. "Five minutes, maybe." Dean replied.

Tyler got out of his chair, watching Dean write something down quickly on the paper that was on top of his folder, then ripped it off. He handed it to Tyler.

"Give this to Phil, alright?" He asked. Everyone was looking at them still, but Dean obviously didn't care one bit about it. "Please? It's important."

"I can't." Tyler replies, taking the folded paper anyway, "He's in Chicago." He said. This was the truth and while everyone already knew he was on "vacation," they never knew where. Now they did.

"Why'd that jerk leave for Chicago when he was supposed to help us plan our week convention in Georgia?" Dave asked. "That thing's in less than two weeks and he decides to leave all of sudden?" He scoffs.

Tyler shrugged his shoulders, pretending not to know, "Your going to have to ask that to Phil when he gets back."

_If he ever does_, Tyler wanted to add.

Tyler walked out of the office, the paper now in his pocket. He walked down the hall to where the break room was. He yawned again, only now realizing how tired he was. The break room looked and sounded empty but as Tyler got closer to the door, he could hear Stephanie arguing with someone. She sounded pissed.

"You think I'm willing to be painted as a joke if I allow him back here?" Stephanie argued, "And if you do, then you've got another thing coming."

The person she was fighting with sighed, "But you don't understand, Steph - " Wait, was that Paul she was arguing with? "If we fire him, what reason do we have? He'll probably think we're firing him because he's gay and Brooks can happily file a lawsuit if he'd like."

Brooks, as in Phil Brooks? Why were they talking about possibly firing Phil?

"I can just say he slept with one of his bosses on business grounds." Stephanie said a minute later, Tyler gasped. "It isn't exactly lie, is it now, Paul?"

Tyler blinked a few times, processing what she just said. There was no noise in the break room at the time and Tyler stood out by the door, wondering how people were just walking by and not hearing any of this.

"It happened only a few times, Steph. I already told you that." Paul said, his voice getting a bit low. "It's stopped since you found out, no need to take it out on him. He's one our best workers and if you fire him - "

Stephanie sighed, "Forget it Paul, we'll talk about this later." She cut him off, walking away. Her high heels sounded close to Tyler, but before he had the time to move, she was standing in front of him. She looked a little shocked at seeing Tyler, but she put some hair behind her ear, smiling at him.

"I was just going to get some coffee, I'm a little tired because I didn't sleep well last night." Tyler explained, not including the fact he was thinking about Phil. Stephanie nodded her head, walking off. Tyler went into the break room, Paul was sitting a table alone, drinking some coffee.

Tyler quickly opened the fridge, getting out the creamer, then closed it. He put the creamer on the counter, grabbing a plastic cup and poured some coffee into it.

"Did you hear?" Paul asked out of nowhere.

Tyler looked over his shoulder, Paul wasn't even looking at Tyler, instead he was looking straight forward to the wall, bringing his coffee mug to his lips, swallowing the drink, putting the mug back on the table.

"Uh - No, sir, I didn't..." Tyler lied, going back to pouring his own coffee into a cup. He put the coffee pot back, pouring some creamer into the coffee. He got a straw and mixed it.

Suddenly, Paul was behind Tyler, near his ear whispering, "Even if you did, keep it to yourself. That would be best for business... And yourself." Paul says, leaving Tyler alone. Best for business and himself? Okay, Tyler was a little freaked out.

* * *

Brie was on top, slowly riding Tyler. They were both making noises to let each other know they were enjoying this. Tyler watched Brie throw her head back, moaning loudly.

As she moved faster now, she coming down to kiss him passionately, then came back up, running her nails down his chest. his mouth opening and let out a gasp.

"You like that?" Brie smiled.

"Very... Much..." Tyler says, his breathing becoming a little heavier.

He came and she wasn't far away from him. After she came she stopped and got off him, lying next to him. She looked at him as he looked at the ceiling.

"I have to admit, we've gotten better at this." Tyler says. He looks at her, her eyebrows raised. "Okay, I've gotten better at having sex." She smiled, then laughed. He started to laugh too.

They lay there together for a few minutes before Tyler moves closer to Brie, kissing her neck, her shoulder, then her collarbone. She chuckled, then let out a moan.

"You want to go another round?" Brie asked.

"Yep." Tyler muttered.

"As much as I'd love to, I need a shower." Brie says, Tyler kisses one of her breast. She playfully pushed him off of her, "Okay, I need a shower and if you keep this up, I'll never take a shower."

Brie got up, walking out of the room, Tyler watching her leave. "You're such a tease!"

He heard Brie laugh, "But you love me for it." She yelled, water being turned on.

_That I do_, Tyler thought.

Sighing, Tyler sat himself up on the bed, covering his waist down with his sheets, getting his phone from off the nightstand, checking for any messages. There weren't any, just a missed call from a wrong number.

He found himself quickly typing a text messages to Phil: _Hey. Hope your enjoying Chicago, be safe and I'll be thinking of you. _

Before he could take the last part out of the messages, it was sent and he cussed under his breath. He wasn't lying when he wrote the message, he did think of him, but Tyler also didn't want Phil to know that.

Hearing the shower turn off, Tyler put his phone back and waited for Brie to come back into the room.

* * *

Phil was just coming back from an early morning run when his phone started to vibrate. He stopped in front of a European restaurant near the hotel he was staying at, Phil looking around the street to see he was the only one on the sidewalk at this time.

Sighing, Phil took out his earphones and got his phone out. It was a text message from Tyler. Confused, Phil opened it. He had to read it twice to make sure it actually said what he thought it said.

Phil scoffed - Tyler was so confusing at time and it sometimes gave Phil a headache. He sent a text back saying thanks but was wondering if Tyler was actually thinking about him. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. Phil had no idea.

Looking at how early it was, Phil decided he would eat breakfast, then get ready to see Jarrod for the first time in four years, hoping it went well. Because you know what they say - You can't face your past on an empty stomach.

* * *

The dream that Tyler has in the beginning of this chapter is important, it kind of explains something that will happen in one of the future chapters. What I can tell you is that the next for Seth and Roman is quite... Shocking, scandalous. Then for the next chapter with Phil and Tyler, Phil and Jarrod finally meet after four years! We are also close to the twins meeting! *Throws some confetti*

Also, thank you to everyone who's read, favorited, followed and reviewed. It means a lot to me and also helps me know all of you guys like this crazy story and almost every addiction I write into the story that they mention, or watch.

I hope you like this chapter, let me know what you think!

Thanks again,

tsarina-lizzie


	18. Innocence Lost

Seth was running in the morning at Sunny Side Park while listening to a podcast of _Welcome to Night Vale_. He had just recently found it - The whole thing was weird and confusing at times, but damn, it was amazing. Seth found himself laughing at a joke as he ran by a few older people and they gave him a dirty look.

He had ran all the back to where he parked his car, which he could see a soccer game going on in front of the park. He got into his car, got out his water bottle, closed the door and leaned against the car door, opening the water bottle.

Once Seth had heard the familiar "_Good night Night Vale, good night_" and took out his earphones, putting them in his pockets.

Today the weather was now surprisingly cold after days of what felt like you were in a sauna. How the soccer players were playing in this cold weather without freezing, Seth had no idea.

Sighing, Seth knew he had to leave the park and go back to all his responsibilities. Seth walked over to the recycling bin, throwing it in, walking back to his car. Looking to see one of the soccer teams celebrating their win, Seth smiled. He got in his car, closing the door, then put his seatbelt on, starting the car. The radio came on in the middle of an Iggy Azalea song. Looking at the clock, seeing it was almost noon, he decided to go get lunch first. His shift didn't start for a little while.

* * *

Shutting the door behind hours later, Seth took off his hoodie, putting it on the coat hanger and yawned. It might have been a slow day at the club, but it was exhausting. All Seth wanted to do was call Tommy, see how he was, then maybe watch whatever was on the ID channel or watch the hockey game and call Jimmy to see what he doing.

Walking into the living room, Seth noticed the TV already on, the ID channel on. He looked to his couch, seeing Naomi sitting on the couch, writing something down in a notebook. She wasn't even paying attention to the story on the TV.

He stood there, watching her write stuff down until the curiosity got the better of him.

"Why are you writing stuff down on my couch?" Seth wonders.

Naomi looks up, gives him a quick smile and wave, going back to writing whatever she was writing down. It seemed to be important.

"Sorry if it's an unexpected visit, but Jimmy is having a party for the Pirates making it into the playoffs with Jey and some other people." Naomi explained, turning a page, writing still. "It was all loud so I came over here."

"Okay, that's completely fine with me, but..." Seth said, bending down to grab the pack of cigarettes on the coffee table and opened it, taking a cigarette out. He sat down next to Naomi, throwing the pack back on the coffee table. He got the lighter, lighting the cigarette, putting the lighter back. "... You still haven't told me why your writing something down in a notebook like we're in high school again and homework is due tomorrow." Seth says, smiling as he put the cigarette up to his lips, taking a long drag of the cigarette.

"I'm planning my wedding, smartass." Naomi said, not even looking up.

Seth took the cigarette out of his mouth, the smoke escaping his mouth as he ran a hand through his messy hair. It was down for once, not that anyone really noticed. The wedding?

"The wedding? Already?" Seth asked. He flicked some of the cigarette ash into the ashtray, then looked at her. He wanted to be sure he heard her right. "Didn't you guys just get engaged, like, three months ago?"

Naomi sighed angrily, lying back on the couch. She crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him. "First of all, it was four months ago. But, really, Seth? Why are you questioning everything about me planning the wedding?" She asked. "I thought you'd be happy."

Seth took another drag of the cigarette before putting it out, letting the smoke go. He was searching for an answer himself, then shrugged his shoulders. He looked her in the eyes. "Wasn't it you who said you wanted to wait a year or two after getting engaged to have a wedding?" He recalled.

"So?" Naomi raised her voice, "Jimmy and I want to have this wedding soon because we just don't want to wait. What's the problem in changing my mind on how long I want to wait to have _my_ wedding?"

Seth nodded his head, understanding that. A lot of people were changing their minds. "It's just a little fast - "

"I get that, but who cares? Jimmy and I love each other, that should be the only thing that matters!" Naomi exclaims, "You know, ever since Roman left, you've been nothing but moody with everyone. Maybe you should try to forget about him and do something - Take a vacation or something - Just calm the fuck down, okay?"

Seth bit his lip. "I guess I can understand that."

"Thank you." Naomi says.

They just sit there together, watching the ID channel and not saying anything. It was awkward now. Both sighed together when they heard the story on the show that was airing happened in Delaware a few years back. About an hour passed before anyone said anything.

Naomi stood up, stretching, then grabbed all the books, magazines and put them in a bag she apparently had under the coffee table. She carried the bag, waving to Seth.

"Alright, I should leave; It's getting late and I'm pretty sure that the guys will be leaving soon, especially since it's a weeknight." Naomi says.

"Okay, have a good night. Be safe." Seth says, eyes still on the TV.

Naomi kisses Seth's cheek, walking away. "Oh! I should mention this - The wedding's in two weeks and we're having it in Florida." She says, "I'll send you an invitation tomorrow." She continues, slamming the door behind her.

Seth sighed, grabbing the box of cigarettes again, seeing a new episode of Deadly Affairs starting. They were having the wedding in two weeks. Wow. Maybe he would go to Florida to see them get married, like Naomi said, Seth should take a vacation.

* * *

Roman had been invited to Jimmy's small party that he was having for the Pirates making it into the playoffs this year. He agreed to it, but the last minute, Corey decided to go with him. Arriving late to Jimmy's house, Jey answered the door and let the two of them in. Roman quietly sat in the living room with Jey while Corey helped Jimmy with the drinks. They came out with drinks, then watched some of the game. Jey tried to hold a conversation with Corey about how work was going and why they didn't see so much of the happy couple, but Corey didn't really have that much to say about that. Roman just sat there with a beer, silent. He regretted even wanting to come to the party.

During a commercial, Jimmy ordered pizza while Roman went to the bathroom, washing his hands and looking at himself in the mirror - He had bags under his eyes and when he tried to smile, it didn't even look right to him anymore.

Shaking his head, Roman dried his hands on his shirt, turning the bathroom light off, leaving the bathroom.

Walking in the hallway slowly, admiring tons of the photo's on the walls, Roman didn't know someone was in the hallway with him until they bumped into each other.

Seeing it was Corey, Roman quickly apologized, stuttering through it a little.

"It's alright." Corey waved it off. Roman felt a little better. Corey pointed to the bathroom, "I was just about to come get you. The pizza's going to be a little bit and I was just wondering if you'd like to..." He trailed off, winking at Roman.

Roman shook his head, "Not while I'm in my cousin's house, are you crazy?" Roman blurted out, not even thinking about what he said.

Corey walked towards Roman, who started to back up to the wall. Corey looked angry, he held Roman's shoulders with a tight grip. "What did you say to me?" He asks through gritted teeth.

"Nothing," Roman said, "I said nothing."

Corey nodded his head, "Okay. Since when are you about where we have sex? Wasn't it you who once had sex with me in my office at work?" He asked.

Roman could feel his cheeks burning, looking to the right to make sure no one heard Corey. That was something he didn't want to be mentioned all over the place. Corey let go of the tight grip on his shoulders, then slapped Roman. He put a hand on his right cheek, his cheek stung, opening his mouth, closing it and opening it again.

"Please... Let's not do this here, Corey." Roman asked, closing his eyes.

"You are so - "

All of a sudden, Roman didn't hear the rest of what Corey was saying. His hand fell from his face, opening his eyes again, seeing Jimmy standing next to Corey, they both looked angry. Jimmy was holding Corey's arm in the air. Roman didn't know which one to worry about more.

"You might want to go sit down," Jimmy said to Corey.

Corey looked from Jimmy to Roman, "We'll finish this later."

Roman nodded his head, scared. He and Jimmy watched Corey walk down the hallway when Jimmy cleared his throat.

"Actually, Roman will be staying with me and Naomi tonight." Jimmy announces.

Roman shook his head, whispering, "No! It's alright Jimmy, I'll handle everything later." He gave Jimmy a look that in his eyes told him Roman didn't even know what he was doing. Behind them, Corey was laughing.

"You don't think I know what'll happen if you leave with him?" Jimmy whispered, "Just end it, Roman. I can't keep seeing my cousin not smiling like he used to. We're family and I'm going to try and do what's best for the people in my family."

"I'm fine," Roman lied, looking to see no one else in the hallway but the two of them. He looked back to Jimmy and said, "Besides, I'm happy with Corey, so just drop it, okay?" Roman lied, it hurt him to even say that.

Roman couldn't look at Jimmy as he walked away from him, out of the hallway and into the living room. Jey and Corey sat there in the awkward silence.

Roman walked to the door, leaving without saying anything to anyone. He knew what would be discussed later. He even knew that he should stay and just go home later with Corey, but he needed to leave.

Walking down the driveway, Roman cussed under his breath for forgetting his jacket. Well, at least he knew where he was going, even if it got him into trouble.

* * *

Putting the cigarette in the ashtray, Seth laughed. Tommy was telling Seth a story about one of the art projects he gave the students and the painting a student turned in. Although he was tired, he called Tommy and it made him feel a little bit better.

Seth leaned back on his couch, Tommy smiled, sneaking a free glance at Seth. He then got up and went into the bathroom.

A classic movie started to play on TV when there was a knock at the door. Tommy looked at the door, not knowing what to do. Seth yelled for Tommy to just open it.

Tommy got up and went over to the door, opening it. Standing there was a man that Tommy hadn't seen before. He smiled politely at the man.

"Who is it?" Seth asked. He walked up to the door, standing next to Tommy and saw who was at the door. "Tell them - " Seth smiled and then gasped, the smile fading.

At the door was Roman Reigns, who looked afraid and cold. This was unexpected.

"Roman?" Seth spoke the name that he'd felt like he hadn't said in what seemed like forever. They hadn't seen each other for months and to see how tired and afraid Roman now looked hurt Seth.

Roman managed a small, weak smile, "Hey." He says, walking inside the apartment. His voice was cracking. Seth started to stop him when Roman turned around and looked at Tommy. "If you want, I can leave."

"What do you need Rome?" Seth asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"You know what? I'll leave." Tommy announces. He kissed Seth on the cheek, "We can just re-schedule."

Tommy grabbed his jacket, then left, closing the door quietly behind him. Seth and Roman stood there for a few minutes after Tommy left, looking each other in the eyes.

"I thought we should talk." Roman says, "Can we?"

Seth saw how much Roman needed to talk. He wanted to say no, that Roman should just go back home to Corey, but a part of him wanted Roman to stay. It was great to see him, but not this upset. Seth just wanted Roman to smile again and mean it, just like old times.

"Sure." Seth replied. Seth crossed his arms over his chest, "What did you want to talk about?" Seth asks.

Roman bit his lip - It was time for him to talk and nothing would come out of his mouth.

* * *

Sorry for the late upload! If you have been following me on twitter, I've been a little busy (Going to a Plumb concert, Youth Group meetings and school. I'm going to a play on Saturday/went to a play) and haven't been able to work on this as much.

Recently I have gotten into Welcome to Night Vale and recommend it! It's crazy, but great. Also, the classical movie was supposed to be Rear Window (a little bit of my royalty obsession will be explained at the wedding. Hehe.)

Thank you for listening to me ramble on right now. We are about four chapters from Tyler and Seth meeting, I just came up with an idea that involves Tyler and it will be cut into two chapters instead of one. I hope you are excited! It may take a little bit for them to be uploaded, though.

Thank you to everyone who's ever read, reviewed, favorited, and followed. It surely does mean a lot to me, it's helps me know that you guys are liking it. It's going to get crazy, so I hope you like this chapter!

Thanks again, Lizzie.


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